Clarity
by Soulreciever
Summary: At nine years of age Suabru Sumeragi came into the shade of the Sakura as it had allways been his destny to do and yet what if this event never occured? What if the Bet had never been made? AU
1. Apathy

Clarity

Chapter one: Apathy.

T: I should probably wait until I've finished posting Afterlife before I start putting this one up, but one: I can't wait any longer to see what people think of this and two: I'm only not posting Afterlife because my beta is busy…anyway moving on! This is another AU fic with this what if at its heart: What if Subaru did not meet Seishrio at all? The characters are a little OOC but hopefully not enough to put people off. Chaosdragon, if you happen upon this and wish to Beta it let me know, though I promise I'll only start sending you chapters once we're done with Afterlife!

Not mine. You will need an intimate understanding of Tokyo Babylon for this fic and there will be some vague X spoilers in here at various points. Also ANGST warning but then with Subaru what can you expect?

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I am the 13th head of the Sumeragi clan.

Once I was also Subaru Sumeragi, but it's been so long since I've felt like that boy…felt like something other than Obbasan's puppet…

I suppose it is unfair of me to say that and yet…

Ever since I was nine she has dictated my every move, even going so far as to bring me to meetings that should have been for her eyes alone.

Her reasoning had been that Tokyo was a city fraught with danger, a city where anything could happen to a child who was heir to such a prestigious family as the Sumeragi's

It sounds odd but I think that something was meant to happen to me, that by keeping me close Obaasan has insured that my fate has been stolen away.

Without fate life becomes uncertain and the necessity for clarity, for a clear path amid the mist, becomes a driving force in your life.

I was so small, so naïve, when my fate was taken from me and thus the only path I could take that might offer me that clarity was Obbasan's path:

Become a strong head for the clan, study hard but never neglect the duty and become strong in yourself so that you might win in the Divine battle of 1999.

Since my tenth birthday I have lived that life, day by day, month by moth, year by year and slowly it has taken the heart of me…

Slowly the man that Subaru might have been had faded away and then simply vanished.

The last essence of Subaru to leave was my sister, Hokuto, who was as my mirror in appearance and yet as my opposite in personality.

She had tried often to open me out of my protective shell and yet though I had worn her bright outfits, though I had eaten the exotic recipes she had feed me and though I had dated the many men and women she had sent my way, it has all simply been as a farce to me.

Beneath the multi tonal shell of the clothes I was still grey and uninteresting, no matter the complexity of the ingredients of the food it tasted always flat and no matter how beautiful my bed fellow they remained always some distant fascination for me.

She found me one happiness, long ago, that joy stolen away from me by Obbasan's oppressive rule…stolen away not long after Hokuto herself had gone from my life.

Despite my almost complete apathy towards her and the life she made me lead Hokuto stayed close by my side until five years before 1999.

She told me that she had fallen in love with one who was fated to be my enemy and that though she had thought to always be at my side this love had made such a thing impossible.

She kissed me goodbye and then she was gone, taking with her the one last vestige of who I had been.

Leaving me no more than the leader of the Sumeragi clan…

No more than another cow to slaughter for the sake of this worthless world that we live in.

After Hokuto had gone apathy became my friend and though I performed still my duty as an Onmyoji I learned not to care, learned that it was easier simply to shut off.

As the year of 1999 came to pass Obaasan sent me to me my fellow cattle.

In the end it seems but one other seal has emerged from the woodwork and after introducing myself both to her and Hinoto I make my excuses and begin the walk back to my apartment.

My eyes catch the soft pink of a cherry blossom floating in the air and I watch it dance a while in the wind before I decide to take a detour through Ueno Park.

The enigmatic beauty of the sakura tree is a tainted thing always in my eyes.

For it is supposedly a representation of my 'enemy' in this war…of everything I should hate.

Sakurazukamori.

It is a name that has been as a thing to loath and fear for me since childhood and yet as time has passed it has become as insignificant to me as everything else.

After all, how can I hate one whom I have never met, whom I do not understand but for the little that Obaasan has told me?

I take a seat opposite the tallest of the cherry trees and pull free a cigarette with the intention of lighting it myself, however, some other individual offers me their lighter instead.

I take this offer and then glance up to take in my companion.

He is smiling and there is something to it that I can not trust…that unnerves me.

The discomfort is not aided by the fact that his eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses,

"Thank you." I reply after a moment.

His smile stretches a little so that it becomes threatening and yet when he replies,

"You are welcome." The words are a gentle politeness that is adverse to the smile.

He goes to leave and without thought I stop him, my fingers ceasing hard to his wrist as he turns to face me again.

His hidden gaze is as a fire on the skin of fingers and yet I ignore this and inform him,

"My name is Subaru Sumeragi,"

It is the first that I have introduced myself as such in years, the first that I have used simply my name rather than including my title.

The stranger leases my grip and his smile blanking again he says,

"I am Seishrio Sakurazuka," A pause and then the enquiry of, "Would you like to go for ice cream, Sumeragi-san?"

It should be an odd enquiry, especially coming from this individual and yet, to me, it makes perfect sense that he should ask, that I should agree without hesitation to the request.

…………………………………………………………………………………

This room is dark and silent but for the constant beep of a heart monitor, indeed sometimes he comes here simply for the peace it offers.

Today, though, he has come to talk to the conscious occupant of the room.

"Kizuki-san."

"I've told you before that you may call me Hokuto, Seishrio-chan." She replies as she switches on the light at her side.

He can see again the likeness between her and her brother, a likeness that must have been all the more acute when her hair had been shorter and when her brother was growing still into his rare masculine beauty.

"I saw someone today who could have been your reflection."

"He is dead then." She states, the words deadpan despite the emotion clear in her eyes.

"No, he is not."

"He is your enemy, Seishrio-chan both in this Divine war and in blood also. Why would you allow him to live?"

"Because he intrigues me…because beneath the hard antipathy that is his character is some indefinable thing that I yearn to understand."

"I would ask you not to hurt him or toy with his emotions and yet my words would fall useless.

"You do not care if I hate you, after all."

Silence a moment and then because he is a curious individual he enquires,

"Why do you insist on an informality between us, Hokuto-chan?"

"Because you are the only one in this place who has not lied to me, Seishrio-chan, the only one who has not asked what my husband see for you in the future."

"Do you not wonder why that is, Hokuto-chan?"

"I supposed that it was that you did not care what your future was or what fate had set out for you.

"That all you cared for was that you were amused with life and that amusement would see you though."

"All true and a clear show of your wonderfully perceptive mind, however, there is another reason that you have not thought of

"That I already know my fate."

"Is that truth, Seishrio-chan or is that another of you illusions?"

"Ah, but life is an illusion, Hokuto-chan, I simply play along."

"Seishrio-chan."

He smiles then and removing his sunglasses remarks,

"My mother told me that my fate was to die at the hands of the one I loved beyond all others."

"An odd fate for an emotionless assassin is it not?"

"Perhaps." His smile fades before he states, "Only time will tell."

Silence and again there is something niggling at him, an enquiry he makes always when he talks to Hokuto-chan,

"How is your beloved husband today?"

"Sad. The other Kamui shall awaken soon and the world will fall into darkness."

"So there is still an easy victory for us on the horizon?"

"Without anyone to call him back the Kamui of the Dragons of heaven shall remain forever in the safety of his heart and though the remaining seals shall fight valiantly it shall be in vain in the end."

"Does he believe still that this is not how it should be?"

She raises her delicate hands and removing her gloves she places her now bear skin to that of her husband's forehead.

This process he has seen many times before and it is the only reason that Hokuto lives still, the only reason that she has been brought into a war that should have no concern for her.

This Kakyo had known long before Kanoe had come to claim his services and thus he had requested that his wife use what little gift she had to tie their essences together, to ensure that once he was again comatose Hokuto and Hokuto alone could perceive his dreams.

She leases contact a few moments later and placing the gloves upon her hands she says,

"Apparently something that should have occurred many years ago did not and thus a kindred spirit for Kamui had been stolen away along with any hope of bringing him free of his slump."

"Of course you know what that 'something' is, yet I understand your reluctance to tell me.

"I am the Sakurazukamori, after all."

He stays only a little after that and then he allows her the privacy she has come to expect, allows her to wallow in the darkness of her husband's world.

He finds a victim for the tree and then comes to the conclusion that it might be nice to get to know his enemy.

That it would be perfect for him to cage that rare beauty before he shattered it completely.

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T: Well at least Sei-chan is happy! I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow hopefully so until then R+R and if you're feeling particularly nice send me fan art…I'll write you a little thank you fic if you do!


	2. Dejavu

De-ja-vu.

T: Silver salamander I understand entirely…I can't draws either, hence the huge plea for fan art! Warnings remain the same and nope it's still not mine!

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I am summoned to the Diet building in time to be introduced to two new seals and the boy who is supposedly the 'leader' of this rag tag bunch.

The seals treat him as though he is some all mighty thing and yet I can not bring myself to like him, nor the attitude he is sporting.

The first battle of the newly formed 'team' falters with almost perfect precision.

We had been faced with a 'surprise' attack from the Sakurazukamori and assured in their gifts, in their ability to win, the seals had organised an all out attack.

Yet the more they fought the more that their enemy threw back and soon enough they were in trouble.

Enthralled also into the illusion Kamui had attempted, eventually, to break free yet by that point the power surrounding us was enough so that the boy's effort also amounted to nothing.

Reaching for one of my Ofuda I fling it to the far edge of the illusion with a lazy flip of the wrist.

For a moment it seems that even I am to be outwitted by this foe and then the illusion dissolves and we are back within the 'safety' of the basement.

They thank me, each one of them telling me how strong I must be, how fast and confident to defeat the illusion with such ease.

Kamui sees already that I need no such praise, that it little matters to me what happens to them or what they think of me. Thus he remains on the outside of the group, simply watching me with a frown upon his face.

He lingers just a few moments and then he heads back for the elevator, his step never once hesitating despite the force of Hinoto's pleas.

He most likely believes that he is being assured or self motivated and yet, to me at least, he comes across simply as a spoiled child finding suddenly that he can not always get his way.

That on occasion destiny is inescapable.

It is odd and yet that thought brings to mind the dark presence of Seishiro-san…

It is odd that I already think of him as such, we have, after all, only known one another for two days and yet as with everything regarding the man it seems right.

There is a desire within me to see Seishrio-san again and I realise, suddenly, that I have no idea how to find him, that the only thing he told me of himself was his name.

I find myself smiling and making my excuses to the seals I track my way back to Ueno Park.

It is raining by the time I reach the park and I quickly take shelter beneath the tree that I had been near when first I met Seishrio-san.

I recall seeing this tree from a distance when Obaasan had first brought me to Tokyo.

It had stood out to my young mind because it was so tall and because it was coated still in its blossoms despite the season.

I had felt something pulling at me then, a desire to look closer at the tree and yet Obaasan had a-hold of me so tight by that point that I could not break free.

Setting a hand to it's trunk I smile and feeling just a little foolish I inform it,

"I am sorry that it took so long for me to come to you, but I am here now."

It is most likely my imagination running away from me but it seems that the branches are leaning a little closer to me now, that they are almost enveloping me within their web.

"Subaru-kun, what a pleasant surprise." That is Seishrio-san, his presence as a warmth at my back that had gone unnoticed until this moment.

I turn and note quickly that there is a formal edge to his attire today, that he wears now a pair of wire rimmed spectacles.

His eyes are a living hazel that pulls at me and yet there is an edge to them that set a little fear into my heart.

It is the same edge present within Seishrio-san's smile, an edge that warns that perhaps not everything I perceive is true, that there is a darkness to Seishrio-san that I shall never know.

"I did not know that you wore glasses."

"I do not normally, but as I had some paperwork to do and as I am a little short sighted, I am forced to wear these ugly things." He remarks as he touches the thin wire frames.

My first thought is to assure him that the glasses are not ugly, that he is handsome always in my eyes and yet I dismiss that as idiocy and instead enquire,

"Where do you work the, Seishrio-san?"

"I am a lawyer for the Kizuki family."

I know the name well and thus I enquire,

"Would you know my sister?"

He smiles one of his gentle smiles and his hand rises to brush absently at my cheek before he replies,

"I would. In fact I saw her just yesterday."

"How is she?"

The smile fades and I am unsurprised to find that I am concerned.

My sister has always been the one thing in this world that I have cared for.

"You can tell me, Seishrio-san."

"Her husband has fallen again into his coma. The doctors are doing what they can for him but as they still have little idea of what pulled him under in the first place…"

"How is she coping?" I enquire, not wishing to dwell on the issue of Kakyo's coma for too long.

"As well as can be expected."

"I know that it is not really fair of me to make you a third party, Seishrio-san, but could you ask her if she wants to talk to me?"

"Of course, Subaru-kun, but if you do not mind me asking why are you so distanced in the first place?"

I consider lying and yet why bother, especially when Seishrio-san has so quickly become a part of my life?

"I have not always been the best of people, Seishrio-san, and I believe my bitterness drove Hokuto-chan away in the end.

"Though I suppose it did not help that Obaasan would never have approved of her marriage to Kakyo."

"It would seem to me that a union between your houses would be most favourable."

Again the conversation seemed to be dragging me into the position of having to tell Seishrio-kun about the Year of Destiny and unlike the last time there seemed no visible escape rout.

How could I explain Obaasan's dislike of Kakyo without mentioning that he was a Dragon of Earth? That by her blood Hokuto was forced to be opposed to the man she loved?

"I suppose there are 'extenuating circumstance', are there not, Subaru-kun?"

It was a simplistic escape and yet I was glad for it…

I had no want to endanger Seishrio-san, especially when he was quickly becoming as important to me as Hokuto-chan…

Perhaps he was now even more important that her in my heart.

I felt an irrational blush heat my skin and go to turn my head slightly from Seishrio-san if only so that I could gather my thoughts.

Yet Seishrio-san prevents this escape by catching a hold of my chin.

His smile becomes predatory and he leans towards me a little before he states,

"You know, Subaru-kun, you are rather cute when you blush."

There was a scant inch between us as though it had been but two days since we met, though he was still all but a stranger to me, I yearned for that gap to be closed.

Yearned to possess and be possessed by this man.

"Seishrio-san…"

The smile changed again into the half sincere, gentle, smile that was his normal and releasing his grip he steps away from me.

"I should be getting back before Kizuki-san docks my pay."

He opens out the umbrella that he had set against the tree and steps back into the rain before I stop him.

"How can I get a-hold of you, Seishiro-san?"

He smiles again that predatory smile and drags free a card from his coat pocket with his free hand,

"That is my office number, Subaru-kun. I will let my secretary know to put you strait through when you ring."

I take the card and finding a pen and a scrap of paper amid the dregs within my pockets I hastily scratch down my telephone number before passing it into his care.

"I shall talk to you soon, Subaru-kun."

He remarks before he is lost within the rain.

……………………………………………………………………………….

Only when the younger man has gone does he return to the tree and yet the spirit seems to have lost its desire to be fed and instead states,

_'That child is of a powerful blood.' _In a manner that is almost an enquiry.

'He is a Sumeragi.'

_'And yet you have allowed him to live, have even gone so far as to encourage an intimacy between you…why would that be, Seishrio-sama?'_

'He is an interesting individual and he has the potential to keep me amused for a while.'

_'I see…yet you will kill him eventually, will you not?'_

'Of course.'

He could not understand why that felt like a lie, why some part of him desired to keep that man alive forever no matter what sacrifice he would have to give for that desire to be fulfilled.

In that one moment when Subaru-kun had been at his mercy, when but one movement could have changed the nature of their 'intimacy' he had felt the oddest of thrills.

Something akin to the electric thrill of the kill and yet this was not a sensation caused by a power boost…

No, this was something far, far, more dangerous.

This was the thrill of a true emotion.

Yet that was foolish…

He had only known that man for the smallest of times and though there was some indefinable spark of something within the other he was still less than some of the other people Seishrio had known, and killed, over the years.

And yet…

Seishrio little liked feeling this weak and thus he was finding this entire situation very infuriating indeed.

How could that man have slipped so easily into his thoughts and his concerns? How could that man evoke so many conflicting emotions within Seishiro's heat without conscious thought or effort?

Why was there no logical explanation for what was occurring?

Lighting a cigarette Seishrio decided to turn his mind to the more pressing issue at the moment.

The issue of whom he would chose to be the tree's next victim.

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T: Yet another chapter down and hopefully another up tomorrow...yep the rest are all fairly well this size and there are thirteen more to go…run away now if that thought daunts you as much as it does me! R+R because this authoress loves to be loved!


	3. Release

3. Release.

T: Silver salamander I actually know what you mean as this story bewitched me as well…though this chapter wasn't exactly the easiest of things! I'll actually take you up on the offer, though I feel rather naughty doing as such! Expect the new chapter in your inbox tomorrow! Moving on, this chapter has a cameo from a couple of Gravitation characters who I've meddled enough with that it's probably not necessary to know what Gravitation is…apart from that warnings remain the same and no, I am not a member of Clamp.

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There was something different about her brother.

Always before today Subaru had seemed to her as a unlit candle, a thing with so much potential if only the right could be found and now…

Now he glowed.

"Hokuto-chan, forgive me for pushing you away…for making the last few months that we had together such a misery."

"I should have been a better sister and respected your wish to remain just the two of us, should have allowed you the time and space you needed to find again your freedom."

Subaru smiled then, the thing so very rare and thus so very beautiful to perceive.

"Shall we begin again?" He enquires.

She responds to that by pulling him close to her and as always this feeling of 'oneness' of being simply a part of some greater thing, is as the greatest of comforts to her.

"So you know Seishrio-chan?" She enquired.

Subaru's attitude changed just barely at the mention of that name, his posture tensing and the veiled shadows within his eyes lifting so that she could all but see the heart of him there.

So he was already enthralled…

She knew, perhaps better than anyone else, how dangerous Seishrio Sakurazuka was and what this intoxication would mean for her brother and yet…

Everything was different to how it should have been and perhaps simply by changing the time of their meeting fate had assured a happier ending for her brother.

"I met him the day before yesterday…"

"Really? The way he talks of you I thought you had known one another for longer."

"It feels that way to me also."

"Subaru…Seishrio-chan is a difficult person to understand strait away and perhaps you should not so hastily allow a friendship between you."

"There is a danger to him, is that what you are trying to tell me?"

"Yes…yes that was it precisely."

After all why tell him who Seishrio-chan truly was when she knew already that Subaru would change the heart of him…

Knew already that it was Subaru whom was fated to kill the Sakurazukamori.

Or at least that was how it would have been if fate had taken its original course.

The future of their love was uncertain in this world and even the foresight of her husband could not see what was to occur.

"What of your fellow Seals?" She enquired, hoping to distract not only Subaru but herself also.

A look of distaste crosses onto his face and sighing she enquires,

"They are not that bad surely, Subaru?"

He did not dignify that with a response and she wondered how he could be so gentle and so open one moment and then shut away completely the next.

There was a solution to this trait, on that she had used a few times before when her brother was feeling particularly stubborn and one that brought with it a wave of nostalgia.

"Perhaps you need to pay a visit to Babylon."

A particular glimmer caught in his eyes and a smile on his lips he enquires,

"Do you think Seishrio-san would come with us?"

"If you asked him, I am sure that he would."

"Obaasan forbade me from going again."

"Then do not tell her."

"You are a bad influence…"

"Guilty."

"Thank you."

A moment of silence and then her brother takes her hands in his and remarks,

"Kakyo will come back to you again, Hokuto-chan."

"I know."

Her smile is forced and yet the words and the hope bottled hard within them was a truth…perhaps the only one she had left within the shadow world she was now living in.

The faint peal of a clock chiming started them out of the quite peace that they had fallen into and sighing Subaru remarked,

"I have to go and call Obaasan."

"Okay. I'll see you soon?"

"Of course…Seishrio-san has my new number and perhaps you could come and visit the apartment some time for a proper talk."

"Perhaps."

She watched as he stood and began jogging towards the exit of the path before she called his name and informed him,

"Don't let Ryuichi drag you into one of his games, Subaru and try to return Seishrio-chan in one piece."

"I can but try, Hokuto-chan."

He remarked before he was lost within the crowds.

……………………………………………………………………………

When one is feeling angry and empty there is very little that is better to get you back on your feet than a stint clubbing.

Within the steady heart beat of the base there was no need to 'feel', no need to be anything other than an extension of that beat.

The four other Seals looked nervous within this environment and yet I could see in each of their eyes the same tensioned curiosity that I had felt when Hokuto-chan had first brought me to this night club.

Soratta had made the least effort of the group as far as clothes went, for he was dressed still in the eclectic mix of casual fabrics that encapsulated his personality.

Arashi had fallen on the traditional black dress, though she had added the unique touch of delicate silver shoes and fine diamond anklets to give the outfit a touch of class.

Yuzihara was wearing a simply camisole top and a richly decorated skirt short enough that she had bypassed the door staff without a second glance.

Kamui was clothed in a pail red mesh top and a pair of figure hugging black trousers that were earning him already some appreciative glances.

I had dug out the box of clubbing outfits Hokuto-chan had constructed for me once I had become addicted and after much debate had ceased onto my old faithful of a dark green crop top and faded jeans patterned here and there with sequins designed to catch the light and draw the eye.

Allowing the beat to settle my mood I marvelled again that I had even managed to convince the others to come with me.

Oddly the main objection had not been that I would be the only member of the team actually legally allowed within the club, but rather that it was a little foolish to over expose ourselves when we were being hunted.

I had whittled them down eventually with the painted Hokuto rant about everyone needing to loosen up and how sometimes having fun was the best sort of training.

I had then expressed the view that we needed some 'together' time as a group.

Then Soratta had voiced the issue of them being underage and I had explained to them that unless they consumed any alcohol they were not doing anything illegal…

Which had, in fact, been the very same rational that Hokuto had used on me when she had dragged me here for the very first time all of nine years ago when I had been but sixteen.

Since then Babylon had been as a second home to me, a place where I could unwind and be whatever I wished.

I spot Seishrio-san against the bar, his dark suit making him stand out very clearly amid the crowd.

I slither through the mass until I am level with him and smiling brightly I inform him,

"I am glad that you could come."

"It sounded like fun." He remarked before he lifted his eyes to regard the other, "Who are your companions?"

"This is Soratta Arisugawa, Arashi Kishu, Yuzihara Neiko and Kamui Shirou.

"Everyone, this is Seishrio Sakurazuka."

"Charmed." He remarks as he takes each of the offered hands and even goes so far as to gently kiss each of the women's before he enquires,

"What shall we be drinking?"

"Spring water and I'll do the honours." I remark.

The bar is crowed enough that it will be a while before I get served and so I scan those waiting to see if I can spot a familiar face.

One stands out almost instantly.

Ryuichi Sakuma, lead singer of the popular group Nittle Grasper and a charming almost child like wit.

Ryu and I had met a couple of weeks after I had began coming to Babylon and the older man had taken one look at my face and proclaimed that I would be the perfect dance partner.

After that he deliberately sought me out whenever he came to Babylon and soon enough a friendship of sorts had grown between us, a friendship that had remained steady even after he had told me who precisely he was and a friendship that I wished greatly to re-kindle.

Thus I hoped free of the press of bodies at my end of the bar and pushed my way in to stand next to him.

"Subaru!" He remarked when he spotted me.

"Good evening Ryu."

"It has been five years since I saw you here last and I thought that you'd decided to give up the clubbing life style."

"Me, Ryu? I thought we knew one another better than that."

"True enough, I suppose. A base junkie such as yourself could never stay away from the clubs for long!" He paused as he glanced around me and then enquires, "Is Hokuto-chan not with you?"

"Hokuto's gotten married, Ryu." The man sighs dramatically and states,

"Such a shame! Especially when she was oh so cute!"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Ryu." A strange man remarks as he cuts into the other side of Ryu and snakes an arm about the singer.

"You know my heart is yours and yours alone!" The singer retorts before he gestures in my direction and states, "This is the infamous Subaru Sumeragi." The other extends his free hand to me and says,

"I'm Tatsuha Uesugi and I've heard quite a lot about you, Su-chan."

I am about to question the nickname when the bartender finally catches my eye and enquires,

"What can I get you sir?"

"Five waters and whatever that gentleman is having." I remarks as I gesture back down the bar towards Seishrio-san.

The bar tender snatches up four bottles of water and while I am passing them out to the Seals fixes Seishrio what turns out to be dark rum and coke with a stress on the rum.

I had had him pinned as more of a whisky man and yet I was by no means perfect at guessing a persons beverage of choice.

"Are you singing tonight?" I enquire to Ryu once I've pocketed my change.

"No, it's my night off tonight."

"So I'll see you later?"

"Of course." He remarks before he turns to the barman and begins dictating his order.

Equipped with my one essential for the night I make a be-line for my usual dancing spot at the centre of the floor, fully aware of my fellow Seals following behind me like frightened animals.

Seishrio, it seemed, was content to stay at the bar for the moment, something I hoped that I could change as the night wore on and the rum he was drinking finally hit home.

"Right everyone, lesson number one: If you want to blend into a club rather than stick out like the fresh meat that you are, let go and allow the beat to guide your movements.

"Do not worry about those around you because they are not worrying about you. Just listen to the tempo and move."

It took them a while to absorb that lesson, but soon enough they had loosened up enough to have separated away from me and joined into other groups of dancers.

"It is a lie, is it not?" Kamui enquired.

The boy had been the only one to remain close at my side, his violet eyes calmly regarding my every move and emotion.

"Shirou-kun, here in the club it is all a lie. That is lesson number two."

"So here I can be who I wish to be?"

"That is correct. In this place you are simply another one of the mass, another entity existing simply for the rhythm and the thrill that it gives you."

A smile bloomed onto his face and it is the first that I realise how achingly beautiful he is, how much weight he had been carrying on his shoulders.

He moves a little closer to me and I know this game well enough that I do not recoil, that I adjust the rhythm of my dance to match his in a perfect synchronicity.

We dance the perfect dance, out bodies close enough that there is an intimacy to our movements and yet we never touch, for it is in anticipation that one finds excitement and enjoyment.

Kamui gains confidence and he closes the space so that we are touching just barely at the hip.

He slows the rhythm of our dancing down so that we are moving against the beat and a lazy smile appearing on his lips he twines one of legs about mine and leaning close enquires,

"What would you do if I closed this gap, Sumeragi-san?" The shape of the words ghosting against my lips, "Would you continue the game or would you recoil?"

"It would depend on the game." I reply before I break away easily from his grip.

There is a heat at my back now and turning I am met with the wild fire of Seishrio-san's gaze.

"I believe this dance is mine." He remarks as he pulls me into the crook of his arm.

Kamui smiles and bowing politely remarks,

"Perhaps another time." Before he vanishes into the crowd.

"It seems that you are a bit of a tease, Subaru-kun."

"That?" I enquire as I begin to move again to the rhythm of the music, "It was an illusion, Seishrio-san, as with everything else in this place."

"Life is the illusion." He remarks before he begins to dance.

It is nothing flamboyant or openly sensual and yet there is a power in his movement, a grace that comes only with practice.

Unlike with Kamui I have a want to see how far I can take the game, have a want to see if Seishrio-san will allow me the chance to bring us closer together.

Thus I take his initiative and slow my moments down and close as much of the space between us as I dare without invitation.

His eyes are all but glowing in this light and that bright ferocity seems to become him, seems to ass to the danger that is always a part of him.

"Perhaps that is so, Seishrio-san. Perhaps life is an illusion, but this is truth."

I close the distance between us then and though I have kissed many people before it has never felt this good.

I feel his arms attempting to pull me even closer than I already am and then the kiss becomes deeper, truer, and suddenly it is as though the rest of the world has faded.

As though he is all that has ever truly mattered to me.

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T: I make no apologies for the cameo…it started out small I swear and then I got volume 3 of Gravitation, learned that Grasper had a song called Super Subaru and the rest was history! Subaru's club edict is exactly the same as mine which means he shall be suffering greatly in the next chapter! I've always seen Sei-chan as a bourbon man myself, but as always in my life the rum prevailed and thus he is drinking my drink! R+R or I'll cry!


	4. Focus

4. Focus.

T: Now that I've scared everyone away with that last chapter I'm most likely talking to myself but still…

All of this first little bit with Subaru genuinely happened to me with the exception that I have none to blame but myself sigh…and yes there is a purpose to the madness if you just stay with me!

Is Clamps not mine and warnings remain the same!

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I awoke wrapped in a blanket, clothed in nothing more than my underwear and devoid of any memory of how I had come to be in such a situation.

Sitting up I realise that I am in an unfamiliar apartment but that, thankfully, I have been sleeping upon the couch.

The recollection of kissing Seishiro-san is foremost in my mind and then that initial thought leads me through the rest of the evening's events with swift certainty up until the very point where my memory fades into patches of hazy memories that may or may not have been dreams.

Ryu had found me again at some point and had eventually goaded me into a rum drinking competition with him.

My spoils for winning had turned out to be that Ryu bought me drinks for the remainder of the evening…drinks that had turned out to be the oddest of combinations by the time they made their way to me.

The last that I recalled with any fixed certainty was him returning with rum that had been mixed with vodka, from which point it became very fuzzy.

There is the vaguest of memories of me draping myself over Seishiro-san and insisting that as I was too inebriated to drive home I would have to spend the night with him.

This supposedly means that this is his apartment.

Yet how had I come to loose my shirt and trousers?

Blushing hotly I stumble to my feet and grasped my head in hopes of stopping it falling off I make my way to what seems to be the kitchen.

There is a note pinned to the fridge and willing my eyes to focus I attempt to read it;

'Subaru-kun.

I hope you are not too worse the wear for the evening's festivities.

I wished to assure you that I have not taken advantage of the state that you were in and that you were the one to remove both your shirt and your trousers in what has to be the drunkest striptease that I have ever viewed.

The clothes have been washed and are folded out on my bed for you. Please help yourself to breakfast and excuse that I am not here to greet you myself.

Sadly duty calls.

I should be back for lunch but I'll understand if you've gone home by that point.

Seishiro.

I try to recall if I had actually performed a striptease or if Seishiro-san is teasing me, yet that particular memory remains predictably elusive.

I make myself breakfast and by the time I have some food in my stomach and a warm cup of tea clenched in my hands I begin to feel more myself.

I call Obaasan to assure her that I am still alive and that the reason she could not reach me this morning is because I am staying at a friend's.

I perform my daily meditation and then I call my new client to gain information on their case and find out the best time that I could come and observe the setting.

Unfortunately it seems the best time to talk to her is this afternoon and that means I can not stay here as I had hoped.

Assuring my client that I would come and see her this afternoon I write Seishiro-san a note and return back to my own apartment.

The job proves to be little more than a simple haunting and as I slip into my trance I find that my mind winders from the situation at hand.

Nothing about the last few days makes any sense to me.

Seishiro-san was not the sort of man one could instantly warm to and I had been enough of an emotional recluse so that even if he had of been such a person a friendship would still have been hard going.

Yet but moments after meeting him I had given him my name, had trusted him enough so that the next time we had met I'd given him my home number.

Both of which had seemed natural enough and yet why?

What was this force that existed between Seishiro-san and I?

Why did I love him already?

Was this fate?

Had all that had been taken from me all those years ago been restored to me in the form of this man?

If I had gone to the Sakura tree at that time what would I have seen?

I feel the essence of the ghost drifting away into the other real, feel its gratitude before a niggling memory ceases at me.

Seishiro-san kneeling on the floor, his hands pressed to my face and his lips whispering…something…then he raises each of my hands to his lips and kisses them.

I recall the burn of that kiss…feel it still on my hands and curious I lift them to my eyes…

There on the backs of each is burned an inverted pentagram.

The mark of the Sakurazukamori.

………………………………………………………………………………….

She looks so different in the sunlight.

This is the very first thing that he had thought as she had come to sit across from him at the table and had thought so many times before…

For in the shadows of her husbands world she seemed quiet and unassuming, seemed as a hidden strength burning always.

In the sunlight she seemed alive, that strength quickened into some bright brilliance that made her both threat and ally.

"Though it is nice to be so in demand of late, Seishiro-chan, I know that there is more to today than tea."

"I saw your brother last night."

"Then you went to Babylon." She remarks as she takes the first sip of the tea that he had ordered her.

"We did."

"I hope that Ryu did not get Subaru too drunk."

"Drunk enough I fear."

She sighs and shaking her head remarks,

"He never learns…but then I am sure that Subaru encouraged him as usual."

She is smiling pleasantly now and he knows she is only joking, that she is pleased that Subaru is again enjoying his life no matter how shallow that enjoyment might be.

"I have marked him."

The tea cup freezes mid way between her mouth and the table and her eyes darkening she enquires,

"Why?"

"I am trying out a little game that I thought of."

"What game?"

"Your brother has the challenge of making me feel something for him."

"Let me guess…if he wins this 'game' you shall set him free and yet if he fails you shall kill him?"

"Not quite. Should he fail I will indeed kill him and yet should he succeed I can not grant him his freedom.

"For should he succeed in unfreezing my heart then he shall be my successor and fated to carry on as Sakurazukamori once he has killed me."

"And then what?" She enquires, calm again present in her every action.

"What do you mean?"

"Who shall succeed my brother, Seishiro-chan?

"Ever before in your line the one to kill the Sakurazukamori had been fated to love another. Yet with Subaru that is not the case…with Subaru there shall only ever be you."

He recalls the previous night, the way that Subaru-kun had danced with that other boy and the way in which he had danced with himself…the way in which the wild fire beneath his green eyes had sparked into something uncontrollable.

That fire, the fire of Subaru-kun's spirit, seemed to burn for him and him alone…

"Perhaps there shall be none to succeed him; perhaps he is fated to be the last of my line."

She returns to drinking the tea and he believes that shall be the last of it until she sets her cup to the table and removes her gloves.

"Forgive that I have to do this, Seishiro-kun."

She remarks before she places her hands atop his own.

For a moment there is only the normal heat of her body and then the darker heat of magic flows into his veins.

She draws back eventually and putting her gloves back on she says,

"I was not a skilled magician when Kakyo asked me to create a spell to perceive his dreams…thus though it is true that I alone can see what Kakyo dreams, I have also inadvertently given myself the ability to see what others dream also."

"That is why you wear those gloves, I suppose."

"It is."

There is a stagnant silence and then he poses the question he knows that she is waiting for,

"What can you see in my dreams, Hokuto-chan?"

"You have already lost your 'game' it seems." She remarks, a smile gracing her lips before she responds to his question, "In your dreams I see obsession, the desire to possess and the first blossoming of love…

"My brother is calling to you, Seishiro-chan, for the bright fire of his soul burns now in tandem with your own, this truth is proved by the pull you feel whenever you are within his presence.

"You think yourself obligated to continue tradition, to die at his hand, yet perhaps you should allow such a thing to be his choice…should allow Subaru the freedom to love you.

"After all, what does it matter if the line ends with him or with you?"

"There is more to this than simply the continuation of the Sakura, Hokuto-chan…"

"You are opposed in the Final Battle, this I know and yet as things progress there may not be a problem as far as that goes."

Again he pictures the other that had been with Subaru…pictures that false smile and the seduction clear in those beautiful eyes.

Hokuto talked always of Kamui as some fragile thing…as glass to be broken with but the merest of touches.

Yet that smile bespoke of another nature…of the nature that would be his always if he chose Earth rather than Heaven.

"What if things are changing, already, Hokuto-chan? What if your brother's influence allows Kamui to pull _himself_ free of his misery?"

"It is possible…"

"Then again we have the problem of our opposition."

"If you both decide not to fight then the sides will balance out and all shall be well.

"You _love_ him, Seashore-chan and perhaps you should give that love a chance."

Unbidden the memory of that kiss burns at the back of his mind, not for the emotion he had felt at that touch but for the words that had preceded them,

'Perhaps life is an illusion, Seashore-san, but this is truth.'

All his life he had pretended to be something he was not, had hidden the dark heart of the Sakurazukamori beneath geniality and kindness.

Watching Subaru letting go his inhibitions on the dance floor had been as a call to that side of himself and when the other had talked of illusion…

He had wanted to warn him, wanted to tell the boy that he was nothing more than a blanket of illusions draped over a dark heart and a dark destiny.

Yet admitting to such a thing had proven impossible and he had simply broached an idle viewpoint instead.

Yet Subaru had not cared whether life were illusion…whether even Seashore himself was illusion, all that had mattered to the young man in that moment was simply the one indefinable truth of his heart.

Seashore found that he too wished to disregard the illusions and focus simply on the truth.

Focus simply on his love for Subaru.

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T: You see I told you there was a point to the silliness. I promise that it's all behind me now...well there will be a Last Day party, but then that's understandable! R+R and I'll let you play with Subaru while Sei-chan isn't looking!


	5. Misery

5. Misery.

T: Being that Subaru will spend most of the rest of this fic being painfully mature I thought I'd allow him to be completely over the top in this chapter! If you have Chihiro Onitsuka's Infection on your computer listen to it while reading this chappy…if not download it!

Warnings remain the same and no I am still not a member of Clamp despite how hard I've been begging them!

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I can not stop crying.

For twenty five years I have lived my life without sadness or pain, have never been attached enough to feel such emotions.

And now…

Each time I believe the tears have stopped at last the empty hollow of my heart ceases, my eyes move to look again at my hands and the thoughts begin again.

He betrayed me…

No!

I betrayed myself…

For I had known in the heart of me what he was and still I had fallen…

I can not catch my breath and though I know it is silly the tears still will not stop.

I never knew anyone had so much water within them.

Yet perhaps I have been saving my tears always for this day.

Obaasan calls and it takes all my strength of will to sound normal upon the phone…

To sound as though my world had not just fallen away at my feet.

Supposedly I manage it for there is no suspicion in her voice as she talks to me of visiting Kyoto, of allowing her to see me again after months if me avoiding such a meeting.

Though I am mired still within the pain of my heart I catch the worry in her voice and I enquire,

"Obaasan, what is the matter?"

"I performed a spell to see into your future this morning Subaru-kun and I saw you being taken in by the sakura, saw you becoming as a part of it."

"I see." I can feel my control slipping and the tears threatening to spill again I remark, "I will speak to you soon, Obaasan." Before I hang up the phone.

"Seishiro-san." The name is as a wound on my tongue and I know that already my future has come to pass.

Know that the sakura has claimed the very essence of my soul.

There is a hesitant knock on the door and though I am in no real mood to play host I answer it still.

Kamui stands a little way into the porch, his eyes cast to the floor and his shoulders weighted again with the burdens of the world.

"Shirou-kun, why have you come here…indeed how did you find me?"

"I called the Sumeragi residence in Kyoto and then put me through to your Obaasan…

"I lied a little to her and those lies were enough for her to give me your address.

"I came because you are the first person to see _me_ rather than my destiny.

"The first person who looked at me as a growing boy in need of fun and situations where I could make new friends."

He looks so sad and I feel the echo of that sadness in my own heart.

"Come in." I remark as I pad back to sit on the sofa.

Kamui comes to sit at my side and the warmth of his presence eases the ache of my heart just barely.

"You have been crying." He remarks, one fine fingered hand rising to tenderly wipe away the moisture on my cheek.

"Seishiro-san turned out to be something other than what I had believed him to be." I reply.

He does not respond to that, but instead simply snares me into an embrace.

There is none of the 'oneness' that might have come from a hug from my sister, nor the fire of a hug from Seishrio-san, yet still I fell safe.

For within Kamui's arms I feel sheltered and shielded by his great power…felt as a child within the arms of its mother.

I fell suddenly very tired and not wishing to fight the inevitable I fall into the dark of sleep assured that Kamui shall watch over me.

……………………………………………………………………………….

She knew her brother better than any other living being on earth and thus when no answer was forthcoming when she phoned him it was but a moment before she made the choice to come to his apartment and talk, twin to twin.

She had knocked twice without response and though she knew it was wrong she jimmied the door open and stepped inside.

Her brother is laid out on the sofa, his head cradled into the crook of a strangers arm.

No, not a stranger, she realised as she looked harder at the others sleeping face…

Kamui.

She shook her head and kneeling pressed a gloved hand to Subaru's face.

"I hope that you have not done anything silly." She remarks.

Her brother does not stir and again feeling guilty she pulls off her gloves and sets her hands again to his face.

Normally the subconscious mind of the one she had entered would protect itself by blanking off the dreams and she would have to wait until it settled to her presence before she saw them again.

This seemed not to be the case with her brother.

For the moment that contact is made she sees the pale pink of the sakura.

This change in the norm is something that unnerves her until she realises that it must be yet another part of being two halves of a whole.

This conclusion settles her and she watches as her brother's dream self strides across to the tree.

'You looked so beautiful and yet as him you were little more than illusion.' He remarks as he brings up his hands.

He has an Ofuda clenched in between each of his fingers and after chanting a while he releases them into the air.

They spin once in mid air and then they sink into the sakura….

Time stretches and then the sakura implodes.

'Good bye, Seishiro-san.' The dream Subaru remarks before he turns and walks back into the shadows.

The dream changes and she is viewing now Seishiro's apartment.

Subaru is lying in the couch but a breath from where Seishiro kneels on the floor a wobbly smile upon his lips.

'I love you, Seishiro-san.' He remarks.

The other smiles the cold smile she knows so well and replies,

'I do not love you Subaru-kun…but you fascinate me.' Before he catches Subaru's hands in his own 'Let us play a game.'

'Game?'

'I shall protect you from harm, shall watch you with a lover's eye and all you need do in return is to make me stop pretending to love you…is to make me truly care.'

He kisses the backs of Subaru's hands both in tenderness and in a need to mark and possess her brother's sprit.

Subaru glances at those markings and, oddly, he smiles.

'Are these so that you can watch me always?' He enquires.

'Yes.'

'Then it is only fair that I return the favour.' Subaru kisses Seishrio's hands and the pentagram of the Sumeragi clan burns sharp on the assassin's hands before fading completely from view.

'Now you are mine just as I am yours.'

So different…it was so different that it had been in Kakyo's dream and yet still the revelation of Seishiro's character had broken her brother.

Still Subaru wished nothing more than Seishiro's death and his own.

She leases her grip and at last Subaru awakens, his brow furrowing in confusion before he starts into a sitting position,

"Seishiro-san?" He enquires and there is a note of desperation in his voice that gives her hope again that this time things might be better.

"Subaru, keep your voice down! Kamui looks exhausted." She remarks as she gestures to the one at her brother's side.

He does not blush…

It is true that his face relaxes a little when he sees the younger boy and a smile catches onto his lips, but he does not blush.

This, she realises, is a good thing.

"Hokuto-chan, why have you come?"

"Seishiro-chan told me what he had done and I knew, sooner or later, that you would realise yourself…knew that you would need a shoulder to cry on."

"You knew, did you not, Hokuto-chan?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you not warn me?"

"Because I did not think this would occur…

"When he talked to me of you there was only ever fascination in his voice and Seishiro has never been one to destroy something that has amused him."

"Toys are amusing, Hokuto-chan."

"You desire to be more to him than a toy and yet now that you know who he is you believe that impossible.

"That belief has brought you to hate yourself and to hate him also…and yet, Subaru, you are as bad as he…or have you forgotten that you also marked him?"

She can see the faintest echoes of a smile blooming on his lips, yet his eyes remain still closed in.

"It does not matter who is chasing whom, Hokuto-chan…all that matters is that at the end of the chase only one can remain."

She knows this is true, knows with all too much clarity where this shall end…

Blood and the sakura…

The Seishrio of that reality would have appreciated the poetry of it ending where it had begun.

Would have marvelled in the beauty of it and yet by the time it had ended he had long since been dead…

Had long since passed the point where he could undo the harm he had wrought first through lies and then through the truth.

She closes her eyes and is met with two images interlaid over one another so that they seem almost to be happening in tandem.

Two figures stride towards the sakura, one dressed in the pristine white of a Shifuku and the other clothed entirely in black.

A figure steps free of the shade and smiles in one vision, while in the other there is nothing but the sakura and the darkly clothed individual.

The smiling entity plunges for the heart of the figure in white and it, no… _she_, falls to the floor her lips voicing one last thing.

The moment that that strike occurs is the moment the dark figure breaks free a dagger and plunges it into it's…_his_…heart.

As he falls his mismatched eyes seem to be searching for something…

He smiles…

And a name falls from his lips…

Then he too is dead.

"If you desire truly to be always with Seishrio-chan, Subaru, then that is where you should be.

"For you are only enemies if you desire such a thing." She remarks, attempting again the rational that had at last forced Seishiro-chan to see things her way.

Seishiro was gifted with a logical mind and thus this argument had been the simplest way to make him stop and think a moment.

With Subaru, however, it was more of a risk.

For he had been raised by Obaachan to respect his duty and his position in life.

The Sakurazukamori was the enemy of the Sumeragi clan, this he had always been told and this he would believe whole heartedly if he wished still to respect still all that Obaachan told him.

Yet the Sakurazukamori had never caused Subaru any true harm and her brother had learned already that Obaachan's beliefs were not always accurate.

It was this conflict that made this particular rational dangerous, for if Subaru chose to honour the family it would be lost…yet if he chose to allow himself to form his own opinion of Seishiro…

"Hokuto-chan, I do not think it is that simple. The Sakurazukamori has no heart, this you can not deny."

She would have agreed instantly, would have leased all the hope she had of Seishiro loving her brother while he lived still if Seishiro himself had not given her reason to retain hope.

In this reality Seishiro had talked of a 'game' rather than a 'bet'; unlike a bet a game was something that could be ended without coming to a conclusion… it was something that was a little more than illusion.

If this had not been proof enough of how much Seishiro wished to keep Subaru close, wished Subaru to emerge alive still at the conclusion of this 'game', then there was a lack of a deadline.

Always in that other reality there had been but a year for Subaru to realise who Seishiro was, only a year to make an emotionless begin to feel.

It had been an impossible task and it had fallen to tragedy in the end.

"There is an exception to every rule."

He frowns and she knows that she had at last broken through to him, that he is at last considering all that she had said.

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T: Few well that chapy was longer than I recalled…I blame Hokuto and her complex thought processes! One thing I really feel that needs noting is that I wrote this before I read X 19 and once I had read that volume I decided to keep Subaru's suicide rather than make things more complicated for me.


	6. Maturity

6. Maturity.

T: Time for Subaru to prove what a difference a few years will make to this situation… Pre warning for a cliff hanger…mwhaha! Also a belated thanks to Silver Salamander who is kindly taking up the Beta duties for this story…THANK YOU! Ahem, that out of the way I say again that warnings are the same and that I am still not a member of Clamp.

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About an hour after my sister had left Seishiro appeared at my doorway.

He is smiling…truly smiling and he is clutching a small bouquet of sakura blossoms in his arms…

The smile falters as he spots Kamui on my sofa and the boy responds by tipping his mug of tea in greeting and smiling politely.

"Kamui-kun had come to keep me company."

"So I see…Subaru-kun could I have a moment _alone_ with you?"

"I have to ring Sorata-san anyway." Kamui remarks as he stands, grabs a-hold of the phone and takes it with him into my bedroom.

"How can I help you Seishiro-san?"

"I came to see if you might like to come to dinner tonight."

He is hesitant and I feel a little more confident because of that, for it means I am in control of the situation.

I still need to hear some answers before I know what I wish to do with that power, however, and thus I take the bouquet and placing it into a vase I gesture for him to take a seat.

I sit as far from him as the couch will allow and place my hands onto my lap so as to avoid the temptation to touch him before I say,

"You are Sakurazukamori."

"Yes."

"And you have marked me for death?"

"No."

"No?"

His smile deepens again and he reaches for my hands.

"I saw the irrepressible brilliance of your soul, Subaru-kun and I feared that unless I caged that brilliance it would grow far beyond my reach."

"You feared that I would leave you?"

"How could I not? There was but the one truth of that kiss in our relationship. Everything else has been fabrication and illusion."

This is a truth and yet to hear it posed as such only helps return the feeling of stupidity that had plagued me earlier in the day.

"Do you love me, Seishiro-san?"

"Yes."

"Why? You have known me only three days now and already you talk of leasing me as if it would be as death for you."

"It was fate, Subaru-kun…or at least it was as such on my end."

"For the Sakurazukamori loves but once in their lifetime and thus I had been destined to find you and to love you always."

It made sense that if Seishrio-san was destined to love me, then I had been destined to feel in kind and yet why?

What purpose could there be for destiny to tie together our lives when by blood we were opposed always?

'You are only enemies if you desire such a thing.'

I had thought it foolish at the time, after all, what did it matter what we wanted if fate had set us against one another?

Yet thinking on it again now, when Seishiro was so very close and my own desire was to hold him close and never let him go…

So many times before I had removed myself from the burdens of my blood, had pretended that I was ordinary and though that would be the simplest way out of this mess, I had now others to consider as well as myself.

"Seishiro, I love you…but I can not be your lover.

"Not because you are Sakurazukamori or even because fate has set a divide between us.

"It is simply because I can not now step away from this battle."

"It is because of Kamui, is it not?"

I nod and he sighs,

"I will respect your wish for now, Subaru. But I shall not let this be.

"I love you, after all."

He kisses me and I pull him closer if only so that I might memorise the moment.

If only so I can keep it in my heart once my desire to protect Kamui as he had protected me has driven an eternal divide between Seishiro and myself.

"Good bye, Seishiro."

"For now." He replies before he leaves the apartment at last.

Kamui comes in a moment after that and he listens to my explanation of the situation, of my choice and then he again offers me the comfort of his embrace.

……………………………………………………………………………..

So much has changed since Seishiro-san walked out of my life.

Kamui has lost his aunt and his beloved Kotori had been slaughtered by her own brother.

This last had almost been enough to break the boy and yet he had risen above the hurt and found in his heart a Wish to live for.

What that Wish is he will not tell me and yet I am not saddened for that fact, for we have agreed to tell one another everything we believe there is a necessity to discuss.

Kamui has also become my roommate.

The arrangement beginning simply because Kamui had been sleeping over every time he visited and thus it had made sense for him to keep a little of his stuff here and as the visits had become more frequent it had been logical that he simply take my spare bedroom.

I have allowed him to take such liberties because I had began to enjoy his company…began to see him as an almost brotherly figure in my life.

It is odd that I have allowed him to come so close, yet Seishiro-san had opened out my heart, had taught me what it was to care and in doing as such had changed me enough so that letting another in was easier.

Yet Kamui would never become as Seishiro-san was to me…

Nor indeed would any other take that place in my heart.

For that part of me was Seishiro-san's alone.

Occasionally I would find myself tempted to seek him out so that I might apologise and that we might spend our eternity together.

Yet I knew that I had to be mature about the situation…believed that while there is the will in my heart to protect Kamui I can not be with Seishiro-san.

My sister and I meet regularly for ice cream and she tells me how silly I am being, how much my loss has affected the man behind the Sakurazukamori mask. She also tells me of what he is doing with himself now.

Today she seems reluctant to discuss such thing and there is a shadow in her eyes that unnerves me.

"Hokuto-chan…he is alright, is he not?"

"I am not allowed to tell you, Subaru."

"This at his request, I suppose?"

"He said that if you wished to know how he was you could ask him yourself."

"I see. Did you manage the other today?"

She nods and catching the curiosity in my eyes she says,

"It took me a great while to break through the defences that surround his inner self…indeed once he almost succeeded in expelling me entirely.

"Yet eventually I found 'Fuuma' within the void."

"Is there hope, Hokuto-chan? Or is he too far beneath that dark presence?"

"I do not know. He dreams only of an ordinary life, of having Kamui still his friend and of being simply Fuuma.

"Yet that shadow lingers in that world always and I caught him dreaming of his own death…of Kamui killing him."

"I suppose it was too much to hope that it would be clear cut."

She sighs and stretching for my hand informs me,

"Subaru, even if it had been clear that Fuuma could be saved it would make no difference. Only one Kamui can survive this war, after all."

"Yet if we could change Fuuma back he would no longer be a Kamui and we could end this war peacefully…could end it without harming Kamui."

"If Kamui can lease the hope of such a possibility, Subaru, then perhaps you should also…perhaps you should think more on what _you_ wish from this war…"

"Hokuto-chan, I know that you do not understand this but my wishes are not as important as Kamui's."

"You love Seishiro-chan, Subaru and he loves you…of course I can not understand why you have turned away from that!"

Silence and I realise then that she is on edge, that my initial thought that something about today was not right had been correct.

"Hokuto-chan something is wrong, is it not?"

"I promised to stay silent and I do not wish to break that promise and yet I fear what may happen if I keep it…"

"I will guess. That way you do not have to say anything and thus you are retaining your promise."

"Okay."

"Is it something to do with Seishiro-san?" She nods and instantly my good mood fades.

"Is he hurt?"

A violent shake of the head.

"Is he sick?"

A hesitant nod.

"Is he sick but not ill?"

A more confident nod.

"Is it magical?"

Again a hesitant nod.

"Is it because of me?"

A nod is all it takes for me to gain my feet and enquire,

"Where is he?"

"I will show you." She responds as she takes a-hold of my hand.

I know that I should remain away, that I should allow him to sort whatever this was on his own and yet…

My heart could no longer be denied.

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T: The plot finally makes an appearance in the next chapter so stay tuned and R+R as it's the only way I know you care!


	7. Hope

7. Hope.

T: I'm not going to spoil this chapter so I'm going straight into disclaimers…it's not mine and warnings remain the same!

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He can not find the energy to get up.

For months he had pulled himself out of his apartment, had been dealing with the situation in a mature fashion.

He deserved time to mope.

He had actually been coping fairly well once he had squashed his initial impulse to storm back and insist Subaru listen.

Then he had seen Subaru again.

It had not been deliberate and in a way that had made it all the worse.

He had been contentedly enjoying his lunch break in his favourite café, his mood a general cheerfulness that was his norm of late, until the familiar figure had passed by the window.

He had been with Kamui and in the moment that Seishiro had spotted him he'd been laughing uncontrollably at something the younger boy had said.

Such release he had never seen on Subaru's face and looking at it had been as a blow for him after so long apart…after allowing himself to believe that the Sumeragi had withered without him.

Without the comfort of that belief he had found his zeal for life crushed and slowly he had fallen into an almost depressive state.

And now…

Now he was contemplating spending the whole day in bed.

It was frustrating that one small moment of contact could reduce him to this and yet now that he had admitted himself in love with the Sumeragi he had opened himself out for the harm emotions wrought…

Had caused the spell that bound his heart to splinter so that he was no longer the emotionless Sakurazukamori, but simply Seishiro.

There is a knock on the door and he stills entirely in the hope that if he remains stationary whoever it is shall simply disappear.

A hope that is squashed as the door opens and a cheery voice announces,

"Sei-chan, I know that you are here!"

"Leave me be, Hokuto-chan." He remarks as he buries himself further into his covers.

Her face appears near his a moment later and she sighs dramatically,

"Who would think that the great Sakurazukamori would be brought down by a man?"

He does not dignify that with an answer, but instead simply turns away from her.

"Seishiro, you can not stay here all day…I mean who will feed the tree and how are you going to get any food?"

"Both myself and the tree can cope without food for the day."

"Then you ate yesterday did you?"

"I was on business."

"Really? I could have sworn that I phoned your supervisor and asked if I might steal you for a week or two for some very important paperwork."

Ah, so that had been why they had shooed him out of the office the day before last without much explanation…

"You should not interfere, Hokuto-chan."

"You will change your mind on that regard if you would just come out."

It was cryptic enough to catch his attention and he pulls himself out from under the covers.

Subaru is stood in the doorway.

He looks very serious and though this look also becomes him Seishiro finds that he would much rather see Subaru happy away from him than serious and close to his side.

"You did not have to come here, Subaru."

The younger man comes sot crouch at his side then and raises a hand to catch one of Seishiro's before he says,

"Hokuto made me guess what was wrong with you, Seishiro and yet if I had thought but a moment about it the answer would have been clear before me.

"Everything that you have done to me I have done in return and yet for you it has been much harder.

"For one such as myself to feel love and ignore that feeling is simplicity, yet for once such as you…one who has never before known emotion…it would be very difficult."

He feels the burns of Subaru's marks upon his hands, feels the echoing pull of the Marks on Subaru's hands answer in kind and decides that at last he shall allow the man to know everything.

Makes this choice merely for the desire to see how the other will react to the truth, to see if the man will again surprise him…

"It is not that simple, Subaru…nor is it that romantic.

"As the Sakurazukamori my emotions have been trapped by magic, for to feel in my line of work is foolish…is weakness.

"To feel is to die…this is the one truth of my existence, the one truth I have lived always by.

"Thus now that I feel, I must die and as you shall deny me a death by your own hands it seems I must destroy myself."

Hokuto gasps and Subaru's eyes darken, yet he does not lease his grip nor recoil from his side.

"How sad to be fate to feel the greatest of emotions and know it can not last…know that one day that emotion shall be stolen from you by the long eternity of death." The Sumeragi remarks as he kisses Seishiro's hand gently. "Seishiro, I wish to protect Kamui, wish to shelter that fragile soul and yet I wish to love you…wish the chance to show you that love need not be death.

"I am aware of how hard achieving the both shall be and yet if you give me chance…"

Seishiro tightened his grip and lent forwards enough to kiss the other,

"It can not hurt to try, Subaru."

…………………………………………………………………………

Subaru is later in getting up than is his normal on a week day and though Kamui is more than aware that he will get his head bitten off, he opens Subaru's door in the intent of waking the Onmyouji up.

He stops when he is greeted with the image of Subaru bundled up into the Sakurazukamori's arms and smiling to himself steps back out into the living room.

So Subaru had finally decided to stop running from his heart and attempt to fight against destiny…attempt to make a better life for himself.

Kamui cared for Subaru very much and though at the beginning he had hoped that perhaps he might become more that friend to the man, he had soon realised that Seishiro was the only one whom Subaru could ever love.

Thus he decided to be Subaru's friend and in doing as such had realised that his heart had been given over already to another.

His Wish…the Wish that had saved his life…was to do all that he could to bring back the one he loved…

Something that has seemed all but impossible until this day and now…

Subaru had given him hope.

He wrote a note to the older man and then went out for a walk.

His feet led him, without hesitation, to Kotori's graveside and he spent a good hour there simply thinking.

Then the oddest of things occurred.

He spotted the familiar figure of Hokuto Kizuki, Subaru's twin sister, dashing across the park towards the kindergarten section of the Campus.

He follows, curious as to what she is doing in this place, especially considering her connections to the Dragons of Earth.

She slows as she comes to the kindergarten building and she seems now more relaxed…more at home.

One of the teachers has come to great her and the pair talk as though they have known one another a great while.

Curious…very curious.

He can not follow Hokuto into the building without alerting her suspicions, thus he hops onto the roof and back down into the playground.

He can see Hokuto through the window at the back of the building and watches in rapt fascination as the older woman is leapt upon by a small boy of no more than five.

They exchange a silent greeting and then Hokuto hefts the child onto her shoulders and heads towards the door leading out onto the playground.

Kamui jumps again for the safety of the roof and though already he had an idea of what he is perceiving, he remains watching the pair.

"Kibou, mind you do not hurt yourself." She remarks before she sets the child to the floor.

"I will be fine, mama." He retorts before he heads off towards the swings.

Now that he knows all that he need to he sees no point in hiding himself and he leaps with a gentle precision to land at Hokuto's side.

"I did not know you had a son." He remarks.

She starts and then is such a fear in her eyes when she turns to him that he knows almost instantly why he has been ignorant to the existence of this child,

"Yet I suppose that was the point?"

She nods before she turns back to watch her son and after a moment she says,

"No one knows but Kakyo and I, for Kibou was born before they started searching for Kakyo…before this war caught us up.

"He was four by the time they began making trouble for us and though Kakyo knew he could assure my existence, the continued existence of Kibou was a different story.

"Thus I brought my son here and asked them to protect him, asked them to keep him hidden from any who would know him for my child and harm him for that fact.

"I had hoped his existence could remain a secret until such a time that we could be again a family and yet at last I have exposed him….at last I have unwittingly drawn him into this fight also."

"Do you believe that I shall harm him, Kizuki-san?"

"No."

"Then why do you talk of exposure…of harm coming to your son?"

"Because you are tied by soul to one who will harm him given the smallest of chances."

"You are talking about Fuuma, are you not?"

"No. I am talking of the Dark Kamui."

There is a faint smile on her lips now and knowing what her gift is…what such a statement could mean from her, he can not but help enquire,

"Can they be separated then?"

"When my brother first asked me to discover the answer to that question I returned with only a tentative hope.

"I have looked twice since into the subconscious of the other Kamui and now I can give you true hope.

"For I have seen now the dreams of that individual and they are so very different from the dreams of Fuuma that I know beyond doubt that they are still separate."

"Do you know how I can get Fuuma back…how I can destroy the other Kamui without killing Fuuma?"

"Do you love him?"

Despite the forwardness of the enquiry he did not hesitate in a response.

After all what was the point when he knew already the truth?

"Yes."

"Then love him, Kamui, for that is all you can do…is the only thing that will reach beneath the void of your other self to Fuuma…"

"Then I shall love him. For Subaru's sake, for the sake of your son and for my own selfish Wish, I shall love him."

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T: A few things before I go…I was very tempted to put one of my favourite lines from Gaston Leraux's Phantom into Sei-chan's speech 'I'm dying for love of you' because it fit so very well…resisted the temptation as you can see! Kibou means not only 'hope' but also 'deception' thus it fit perfectly into the name for Hokuto's child. R+R …just because!


	8. Sanctuary

8.Sanctuary.

T: Bah…got my chapters off which means Sunshine 60 is not until the next chapter…meh I'm sure you were dreading it anyway! Comixoriole…the ideas savage me in the middle of the night and won't let me go until I write them and then they abandon me two chapters from the end of the story and giggle when I get the ending wrong! Thank you for the compliment, by the way! Warnings the same and no I am not a member of Clamp.

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The tree had decided that they had need to talk sakura to Sakurazukamori and though he would rather have spent his morning with Subaru he knew it was best not to anger the tree and had acquiesced to its request.

His mother had taught him a great deal about the sakura before he had stolen her life away and he had known long before this day that the sakura could take a physical form if it wished.

However, his mother had talked always of a female form…of the tree as being the sister she had never had.

The figure before him now was male and old enough to be more as a father figure than a sibling or anything else.

'_You look surprised, Seishiro-sama.'_

"I thought you were a girl."

'_For your mother I was a girl, Seishiro-sama. Setsuka needed a friend more than anything else in her life and thus I became Sakura-chan._

'_You, however, needed a father figure in your life and thus I became this…'_ He gestures to his current form and Seishiro can not help but enquire,

"So as you can clearly no longer claim the name Sakura-chan, what should I call you?"

The tree regards him a moment and then he breaks into laughter,

'_You are most certainly the rudest Sakurazukamori I have ever known and yet I like your fire…it is what makes you _you_.'_

'_As to my name…how about Yuki?' _ The tree enquired as it reached out for a falling blossom.

Seishiro saw what happened next with two different eyes…he saw the illusionary form of the tree catch the blossom in the palm of his hand and he saw also the blossom floating mid air, restrained by nothing other than the shear force of the sakura's…or rather Yuki's will.

"You called me here with a reason, I hope."

'_Of course! God forbid I should interrupt snuggling time with your squeeze for something paltry!'_

"Ah, so this is about him, is it?"

'_Seishiro-sama, I shall not tell you to stop what you are attempting to do, shall not ask you to be as your mother before you and yet…_

'_Now that you love you are weak and thus I become weak also.'_

"You believe that they shall use my care for Subaru to hurt me?"

'_Yes and yet it is more than that, while you were hurting you stopped serving your Duty and though it was for but one day the fragile balance of Tokyo was affected._

'_In these times I can not risk such a thing happening again and while you care freely for that other such a risk is very real.'_

"Are you going to take my heart Yuki-kun?"

'_No. I am, however, going to bind a portion of your magic to me so that should you again forget to feed me I can use that gift to sustain myself and recall to you what you have neglected.' _

I am intrigued to know that he can perform such a magic, especially when he is little more than illusion, I allow the spell without objection aware that to do as such would be placing undue strain on our 'relationship' with one another.

There is a brief moment of silence and then I enquire,

"You perceive enough of the future that you know who would have been my replacement is that not correct, Yuki-kun."

'_It is true enough…why.'_

"Hokuto-chan seems to believe that should I have chosen as mother before me…should he have taken up the role of protecting you, he would have been the last…is that true?"

'_Yes. Both because you are the only one whom he shall ever love truly and because the Dragons of Earth would have had their victory.'_

"Then their victory is no longer assured…"

'_It depends on the Kamui of the Dragons of Heaven. But then why should you care when you have chosen to step away from the war?'_

"Subaru wishes to protect that Kamui…has invested a little of his happiness in the possibility of a victory for Heaven and thus though I will no longer fight I am concerned still in the outcome of the war."

'_It shall be hard for you remain on the sidelines, Seishiro-sama, for you are strong and the Kamui of Earth shall not so easily lease you."_

"Yet if I fight…"

'_You shall be forced to fight the one you love. The path ahead shall be rocky and yet this you had already expected.'_

"Indeed and the challenge that this choice presents shall be very amusing indeed."

…………………………………………………………………………..

Seishiro is gone when I awake and though I knew that I should be worried, I find that I can not.

Find that I trust him to return again to my side.

As he had already discussed his intention to miss this days lessons Kamui's absence is a little more worrying and yet is quickly explained when I happen upon his note.

'Subaru-kun.

You looked so peaceful this morning that I could not bring myself to wake you.

I have gone for a bit of a think, but I will be back by the afternoon.

I will understand if you want to give up your place as a Dragon of Heaven, but I will not understand if you stay simply for my sake! I will want a proper reason if that is your decision.

Kamui'

The boy that I had met just under a year ago would never have written such a cheeky note and that fact brought a smile to my lips.

Kamui was growing up.

Did that mean that I could, at last, leave my attachment to him…could at last be free of this war and the last of my unwanted responsibilities?

No…of course it did not.

For though my part in the war had began as a fulfilment of my responsibilities it had progressed into something beyond that.

I had want to keep Kamui safe even though I knew now beyond doubt that he could look after himself…

Had want for him to find true happiness.

Yet he had asked me to give a reason other than himself if I decided to remain as a Dragon of Heaven and after another moment's contemplation I struck upon the perfect one.

I wished to protect Seishiro, wished to give us chance to learn to know one another beyond the fascination that had begun our relationship.

The only way I could assure that time was to fight for the future of this earth, was to fight as a dragon of Heaven.

Satisfied that this shall be an acceptable answer for Kamui I go about preparing lunch for the three of us.

Seishiro is the first to return and he brings with him a man who feels very familiar.

"Subaru, thus is Yuki-kun. Yuki-kun this is Subaru Sumeragi."

Touching this Yuki is as touching a spirit and I realise then why he is so familiar,

"You are the spirit within the sakura?"

'_Indeed, but I would like to be 'Yuki' to you if you would.'_

"Why?"

Yuki smiles and sketches the shape of the inverse pentagram on my hands,

'_Because you are under my protection and because you are the one Seishiro-sama has chosen to love.'_

"You are frightening him, Yuki-kun"

'_Fine, fine, I'll behave!'_ He remarks as he takes a seat upon the sofa.

"I did not expect guests."

'_I do not eat'_ He replies before he cease onto a book and begins to read.

Kamui comes home not much after that and is distracted enough that it takes him a few moments to register our guest.

His eyes then blank and he stills as though dead.

After a moment his eyes focus again and he bows politely,

"You must be Sakurazuka-kun's father."

'_Yes, I am Yuki Sakurazuka.'_

"And I am Kamui Shirou."

"Come and have some lunch, Kamui-kun."

"Is Sakurazuka-san not joining us?"

'_I ate before I came out.'_

Kamui seems to accept this for he comes to sit at the table and begins eating the meal that I have prepared.

"You seemed distracted when you came in, Kamui-kun…do you want to talk about it?"

"No, that is okay, Subaru." He remarked, his eyes drifting over in the direction of Yuki.

"You can trust father." Seishiro states, a small smile on his lips for the amusement of naming the tree as one of his kin.

"It is not that I do not trust Sakurazuka-san, but rather that it is not my problem to discuss.

"Hopefully you shall find out soon enough anyway." The boy remarks before he returns to eating his meal.

Once we have finished Kamui insists on aiding me with the dishes and after a few moments silently cleaning he leans towards me and enquires,

"Do you have something you wish to tell me?"

"Yes. I am remaining as part of the Dragons of Heaven."

"Because…"

"Because I wish to protect that which is dear to me…wish to protect the world that Seishiro lives in."

Kamui smiles at that and returns to the task at hand without further comment.

We are sat down and chatting amiably when there is a knock on the door.

I gain my feet and open it out to be greeted with my sister's face.

"Hokuto-chan, what brings you here at this hour?"

"Kamui-kun suggested I come and though at first I thought not to, I came to realise that he was right.

"Realised that you also had a right to know this secret now that it was no longer truly a secret."

"Hokuto-chan…you are confusing me."

"Forgive me." She remarks as she bows deeply and says, "Kibou."

A boy appears then from just out of view and bowing deeply he says,

"Hello, uncle, I am Kibou Kizuki and it is a pleasure to meet you."

There is enough of his mother in his features that I can not doubt his word and a smile gracing my lips I bow and say,

"Hello, nephew, I am Subaru Sumeragi."

Hokuto lifts her son up into the crook of her arm and shaking her head remarks,

"Your very first meeting and you greet one another as though you are strangers.

"I swear, Subaru, that if you teach Kibou to be all stuffy and polite like you were as a child…"

"Would you like to come in, Hokuto-chan?" That is Seishiro an amused smile present again upon his lips.

"Of course I would."

Kibou is soon playing chess with Yuki and assured that her son is settled Hokuto says,

"Kamui-kun saw me going to see Kibou and afraid that I might be after his Shinken he followed me.

"Of course he soon found out the truth and we talked a little of why I had kept Kibou's existence silent.

"He asked me to consider letting you see my son…letting you know this truth and as I have already told you I decided at first that to do as such was too much of a risk.

"Then I went 'home' and talked a little to my husband."

"Papa felt the same way as she did and so I was forced to intervene." Kibou remarks.

"Intervene?" I enquire.

"Kibou has, already, a strong gift both from Kakyo's side and from my own also.

"Thus not only can he walk within dreams invited but he can also break into them when he wishes."

"As I did this time…I know that mama and papa are trying to protect me, especially considering that there is a war going on, but I had a want to get to know my uncle."

"Of course at that rational this soft old heart melted." Hokuto states.

"Checkmate!"

Yuki looks shocked a moment and then he begins to laugh gently,

'_Well he is most certainly of the Sumeragi bloodline.'_

"I will take that as I compliment," I retort at which point Yuki breaks down completely, his laughter infectious enough so that soon everyone has joined him.

The rest of the evening passes in a similar vein until Hokuto remarks,

"Well I am all for liberal parenting but it is getting close to midnight and Ayaka-kun will have long since gone to bed."

"Mama it is Sunday tomorrow, is it not?"

"Yes?"

"Could I stay here with uncle Subaru tonight? I will even wring Ayaka-sensei myself tomorrow and explain."

"Subaru?" She enquired.

I looked to the child, to the plea clear in his vast amber eyes and sighing remark,

"You will have to sleep on the couch."

"Thank you!" The boy states as he bounds across the room and latches onto my stomach.

"He has to be back early tomorrow evening and make sure Ayaka-kun understands that I had no real part in this! Good night, Kibou."

"Good night, mama."

I show her to the door and she smiles,

"Despite how it seems I trust you with my son, Subaru. Take him somewhere nice tomorrow; buy him ice-cream or something." The smile then becomes a little crazed and leaning closer to me she says,

"Do not corrupt him to you ways! I would like lots of beautiful and fun loving grandchildren, after all!"

"I shall try and be quiet!" I counter before I close the door on her.

"I think that you may have traumatised her." Seishiro remarks.

'_She was asking for it.' _

"Perhaps you should be off as well, father."

'_Of course, I would so hate to over stay my welcome. I will see you soon, Sei-chan.'_ Yuki remarks as he gains his feet and walks sedately out into the fresh air.

Both Seishiro and Kamui retire to bed not long after that, thus leaving me alone with my nephew.

"So, uncle Subaru, mama told me that you are the 13th head of the Clan."

"Yes?"

"Would you tell me a little of it?"

Again there is that pleading expression on the boys face and sighing I settled at his side.

"I had my first job when I was but ten. A little girl had fallen from a tree near to where I lived in Kyoto and she had loved the park she died in so much that her sprit lingered there and became malevolent.

"I talked to her about the beautiful parks she would see on the other side, about how her spirit was beginning to make people hate the park and talk of destroying it and she decided to let her burdens go and pass into that other life."

"Tell me more!"

Repressing the urge to again sigh I begin to recount tails of the more memorable assignments I had received within my youth.

About half way through the stories Kibou falls asleep and smiling I wrap a blanket around him.

In the pail luminescence of the twilight he looks so very fragile…almost as an expensive porcelain figurine and on a whim I place a hand to his forehead and inform him,

"Kibou-kun…I shall do what it takes to assure that you have a happy future." Before I retire at last to bed.

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T: Yes there is evil on the horizon…snerk, no I am not going to tell you what it is! As to tree-san's new form…I can not help but envision a slightly more menacing version of Card Captor Sakura's Yukito...giggle…R+R if only to stop the insanity!


	9. Confrontation

9. Confrontation.

T: New chapter and yep its finally time for Sunshine 60 so I'm upping the violence and gore warnings…okay, if there is actually anyone left reading this guess what? It is not mine! Oh and in case you are confuzzled this first bit is Kibou perspective.

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Ayaka-sensei is the most hyperactive woman that I have ever known…something that is quite scary considering what mama can be like on occasions.

She's told me off for not phoning yesterday to tell her that I was at my uncles and then she's gone to tell me how she'd been up almost all the night worrying about my welfare and wondering what she was going to tell mama.

I'd hastened to remind her that it had been mama who had taken me away from the school in the first place and after telling me how rude a little boy I was she had hung up.

Shirou-san is the first to emerge, blinking sleepily at me before he seems to recall why I am here and smiles,

"Good morning, Kibou-kun."

"Good morning, Shirou-san."

"What do you want for breakfast? It will have to be fairly simple, I can not really cook and it will be a while before Subaru-kun is up."

"Does Uncle Subaru like to sleep in then?"

"Not during the rest of the week, but his Obaasan usually lets him rest on Sundays and so he take the opportunity to spoil himself."

"He works hard at his job then?"

"Yes, even when he's tired out from protecting the Keiki."

"You know mama might have been keeping the war a secret from me."

For a moment he looks as though he believes me and then he smiles and says,

"Oh no you do not! I recall you saying something about the war last night."

"Sorry, Shirou-san, I couldn't resist teasing you a little."

"Have you decided what you are having yet?" He enquires after a moment.

"Will pancakes be simple enough for you, Shirou-san?"

"They should be."

By the time uncle Subaru stumbles out of bed Kamui-kun and I have gotten to know one another well enough that he has insisted I call him by his first name.

"Good morning, Kibou-chan, did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you."

"I must apologise if Seishiro disturbed you at all when he left."

I _had_ stirred momentarily at around midnight, but before I could even open my eyes a hand had been set on my forehead and I'd fallen strait back to sleep.

"I must have slept through."

I do not know why I lie about such a simple thing…perhaps it is because I am suspicious in regards to the strength of the sleeping spell that had been used on me by Sakurazuka-san or perhaps it is because I do not wish to worry uncle overly much.

"Why did he leave?" Kamui-kun enquires after a moment of silence.

"He needed to collect a few things."

"Could it not wait until morning?"

"He had also some pressing business that he recalled had to be completed by today." Uncle Subaru remarks as he prepares himself breakfast from the pancake mix that Kamui had left for him.

Eventually uncle Subaru decides to take me to the Sunshine 60 aquarium and on the way there Kamui-kun informs me that uncle Subaru has a soft spot for penguins.

Something that I impart to Sakurazuka-san when he greats us at the entranceway.

"It seems you are cuter than I gave you credit for, Subaru."

Uncle Subaru blushes and mumbling under his breath he makes a beeline for the door.

We stop for lunch at about mid afternoon and taking Mama's advice uncle Subaru purchases me an ice cream.

A figure standing by the penguin enclosure catches my attention…

He looks like papa.

Curious as to how this man is linked into my life I gain my feet and informing my uncle that I am going over to the penguin enclosure I head in the direction of the stranger.

He has moved so that he is just out of sight from where we are sitting and thus it is only when I am closer to the enclosure that I see him again.

"Excuse me, sir, but would you be at all related to Kakyo Kizuki?" I enquire.

He regards me with a patient curiosity and then says,

"It seems your Wish is to see your father again." He smiles and stretches a hand for my forehead.

I hear him state,

"I shall grant you that Wish." Before the world blanks away from me.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

I feel the wave of power and recognising it as the Dark Kamui's essence I gain my feet almost instantly.

I pause to ask Kamui to remain with Seishiro, wishing him to protect the man and also wishing to keep him from his Twin Star.

The Dark Kamui is stood atop the glass of the penguin enclosure, Kibou grasped tight within his arms.

"Good afternoon, Sumeragi-san." He states, a dark smile gracing his lips.

"Let Kibou go, he has nothing to do with this war!"

"It seems you wish to protect this child…Wish to prevent me from fulfilling his wish." He jumps back down to the floor and gesturing binds Kibou into a magical ward.

"I shall grant you your Wish and also insure that the boys will be granted also."

He gives me time to raise a Kekkai and then he strikes out at me.

The fight it not an even match, for the other holds the incomparable power of the Kamui and yet I manage to keep my own, manage to remain relatively unscathed.

The Dark Kamui stops his assault and without provocation falls onto his knees…

"Where am I?" He enquires and I realised that this is not the Dark Kamui but Fuuma.

"You are safe." I remark as I approach him with the intent of helping him to his feet.

I look into his eyes expecting to see the familiar chestnut colour.

My eyes are greeted by the sight of vermilion orbs.

A moment too late I realise that it is a trick…

That the Dark Kamui has control still of the boy's body.

I have time enough to register his smile changing before the blow of his magic hits me and the world disappears.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

The Kekkai is crumbling…

Seishiro reacts to this in such a manner that Kamui knows that it is not a positive thing.

The older man reaches Subaru a little before him and thus he is spared a good look at the extent of the others injuries.

He does, however, register the blood.

"Good afternoon, Kamui-kun, I am afraid that I can not play with you today, but we will see one another soon enough."

As Subaru before him Kamui sees the burden that his other self carries and yet he had no time to plead that Kibou be returned before his other self has vanished into the crowd.

"We need an ambulance." That is Seishrio and there is a note in his voice that has Kamui crying for help as loud as he can.

An hour later and he is sat again in the white walled hallway of a hospital.

The last he had been here the patient had been Fuuma's father and the war had seemed as a far distant possibility.

Now…now it was all too real.

Seishiro is so pale and all Kamui can think of is the blood pooling around Subaru's body, the crimson liquid soaking through his clothes.

So much blood…

Enough that perhaps…

No..

He will not allow himself to think that way.

Not when already the tentative strength of his Wish had began to crumble and the hope that Subaru shall live…that it shall all prove less that they had feared…is all that is keeping him strong.

The entrance doors open to admit both Hokuto and a woman that Kamui has not met. There is enough of the twins in this others features, however, that he knows this is none other than Subaru's Obaachan and the previous head of their clan.

She bows to Seishiro and falling onto her knees said,

"You have saved the life of my grandson despite what you are and despite the animosity between our Clans.

"I wished to offer my thanks for that action."

He regards her with an odd look and then says,

"You need not thank me, firstly because I would have gladly taken this injury for him and secondly because he is not yet saved."

She rises back onto her feet and smiling, only barely, she says,

"You are cold, Sakurazukamori, especially when it is clear to me that you love him."

"You are going to tell me it is a lost cause, that as the head of your Clan Subaru has a duty to hate me."

"No, I am not. After all you are aware already of that fact and yet still you love him…still you speak of dying in his stead.

"Thus I ask you simply to watch him as well as you can without causing anyone else harm."

"I shall do what I can."

The woman allows her granddaughter to take her place before Seishiro and comes to sit sedately at my side.

"He tried to save Kibou, Hokuto-chan, but 'Kamui' was too strong."

"I know, 'Kamui' came to taunt me and to bring Kibou to see Kakyo."

"Then he is alive?"

"For the moment."

Her smile is forced and seeing this Seishiro stretches for her fingers…almost absently she traces the shape of a pentagram on the back of Seishiro's hand,

"It weakens." He remarks before the doctor enters the hall and the attention is diverted her way.

"He has suffered severe lacerations to the legs, upper torso and his arms. Thankfully most of the cuts required only a few stitches to seal them again.

"However, the cut he has received beneath his eyes and the impact he received to his head are of more concern.

"The blow to the head has been enough to render him unconscious and we shall need to do a C.A.T scan before we can say if there has been any lasting damage.

"As to the cut…at the moment it seems as though he shall lose vision in one, if not both, eyes. However, we are in the early stages and he may yet recover his sight."

"Then he is going to live?" Seishiro enquires.

"At this point in time it is difficult to say, he lost a significant amount of blood before he got here and he has yet to regain consciousness. However, his pulse rate has stabilised and he is showing good brainwave activity, both of which are positive signs at this time."

"Can we see him?" Kamui enquires.

"Usually we do not allow visitors within our ICU facilities, I have, however, been informed that on this occasion we are wavering this rule.

"I would request that there should only be one visitor at a time."

"I will go." This is Seishiro and for a moment there is an anticipatory silence as we wait for someone to object and then the doctor smiles and says,

"Follow me."

Once they are gone the silence comes again and Kamui knows there is nothing to do now but wait…

…and hope.

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T: I have no idea why the doctor went into an injury spiel without first telling them that Subaru may or may not die…perhaps she was attempting to skirt the issue. I'm also assuming here that Kamui was, until this point, ignorant as to the whole 'if you kill/seriously injure the person who raised the Kekkai it will crumble' thing. R+R ta!


	10. Choices

10. Choices.

T: Sei-chan is being rational in this chapter and thus you are most likely going to get annoyed with him…yes that is all the warning you are going to get!

No it's not mine.

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He looks so fragile.

This is the very first coherent thought that has entered the mind of Seishiro Sakurazuka since he had watched with a morbid fascination as Subaru's Kekkai had crumbled.

His mind had numbed off at that point, though through some strength of will he cleared his head enough to send Kamui to call for help, strength enough to listen while the doctor had talked of Subaru's injures with offhand gestures and bored demeanour.

Faced with the reality of the situation, the reality of Subaru's lithe form surrounded by tubes and bandages…he comes to sit at the others side and aware of the fragility of the equipment he reaches for his hands.

"Subaru, I understand why you did what you did, understand why that child's life means so much to you.

Kamui will not lease the child without cause and it shall only be a matter of time before he decides Kibou is a nuisance and kills him.

I will not let you suffer in vain…not when it may yet still be the ultimate sacrifice and thus I have chosen to offer myself. Have chosen to join again with the Dragons of Earth.

With you here there shall be no risk of us fighting one another and with Kamui strong there is hope that this world shall endure a little longer."

Seishiro pauses to stare at the floor.

"We will not meet again until the last day, when I will stand at your side. Until then I want you to know that I love you.

He looks back up at Subaru's comatose form and continues.

I want you to know that no matter what I do or say in the following months I shall always love you."

He leans across and kisses Subaru once before he finds his feet and heads for the exit.

Hokuto tries to stop him as he reaches the street, yet he ignores her pleas for him to stay, until her voice fades and he knows she has given in.

He goes first to the tree and after explaining everything to it says,

"If he makes it through all this I want you to protect him…want you to ensure that he is never again in a situation like this."

_'Seishrio-sama…perhaps this is not the wisest choice…perhaps it would be better if you stayed at his side.'_

"This is the only choice." He responds before he turns and heads for the Government building.

'Kamui' is waiting for him.

"You wish the child returned to safety and yet what will you give in return?"

"My service."

The other gives him an empty smile and says,

"Welcome back, Sakurazukamori."

…………………………………………………………………………………

"Where am I?"

It has been two days since Subaru had been admitted to the hospital and she had began to believe that her brother was never going to regain consciousness…

Had begun to believe that he was gone forever.

"You're in the hospital, Subaru."

"Hokuto-chan…why can't I see anything?"

Her heart clenched at the question and reaching for his hands she replied,

"You received some damage to your eyes."

"Am I blind?"

"The doctor is hopeful that you shall gain your sight back in one eye…she is less confident about you gaining again normal vision in both eyes…"

"Is Seishiro with you?"

"No." She paused and knowing well that this news would break her brother she said, "Subaru. Sei-chan went back to the Dragons of Earth…gave himself in exchange for Kibou."

"Oh." It is a deceptively hollow noise and for a moment she believes that he can not see where this choice leads.

Then he grasps harder to her hands and enquires,

"He is going to stay away, is he not?"

"Yes and unlike the last time you were separated he has to keep away from me also."

He has stilled and she knows that he is processing this information, knows that he is deciding which path he should take.

"Then my only choice is to believe in him and the truth of his love for me." He smiles then and his grip relaxes again.

In the momentary silence she at last presses the call button at Subaru's side in a signal that her brother is awake, but that there is no rush for a doctor as yet.

"How is Kibou?" He enquires eventually.

"A little shaken but apart from that he is unharmed."

"Is he back in Clamp Campus?"

"Yes."

"Good, the wards about that place should keep him safe from the Kamui of earth."

"If only the same could be said for our Kamui."

"This will have shaken his confidence."

"He is angry at being again useless as one he cared for was harmed and yet…

"Twice now the other Kamui has done something not fuelled completely through malice…has done something that might be considered 'kind'."

"I thought you believed that Kamui had given up on restoring Fuuma back to himself."

" I had until I talked to him properly…until I saw what sort of a person he was."

"Kamui is like that…a fragile, weak thing on the surface and yet beneath that veneer is a vast well of strength and confidence.

"Confidence you gave him, Subaru."

"He had his own confidence, Hokuto-chan; all I gave him was friendship when everyone else was treating him as a god."

"You understood him, Subaru and that understanding allowed him to blossom…allowed him to become as he is now."

"Perhaps…is he here, Hokuto-chan?"

"He had to go to school but I am sure that he will be back in an hour or so."

Her brother looks a little crestfallen after that and she is trying to think of a way to cheer him again when the nurse enters and she is bustled out of the room.

Everything is turning sour…

She had hoped that with her brother and Seishiro finally together everything else would sort itself out with an almost perfect finesse.

How ironic that it had been the self appointed granter of Wishes that had spoiled that dream.

Sunshine 60 and the events that had occurred in that place had proved a catalyst for the one pivotal moment of the war in that other future and she could not help but wonder if it would again prove as such.

Could not but wonder what lay in wait upon Rainbow Bridge.

Wishing to satisfy that curiosity she returns to the Government Building and the dark isolation of her husband's room.

As always Kakyo is sat at the edge of an oceanic dreamscape, and she allows the peace of that place to wash over her before she says,

"Good afternoon, Kakyo."

"You are alone today?"

"I wanted to see you without 'Kamui's' presence." She replies as she wraps him into an embrace.

It feels true simply because of their connection and she finds herself again craving his true touch…

Again craving an end to this war.

"You are worried."

"I fear that everything will fall again into the old pattern…fear that Sei-chan will die and take the heart of my brother with him."

"Since I showed you how things might have been between them you have not asked anything further of me. Will you do so now?"

"Yes. I would ask you to show me what will occur on Rainbow Bridge your future."

She is bombarded almost instantly with flashes of what had come before…

Her brother sat on a bench near the tree, his eyes fixated on a figure that could only be Seishiro.

Kamui and Subaru dancing together in the low lights of Babylon.

Seishiro kissing the palms of her brothers hands.

That one terrible moment at sunshine 60 where 'Kamui' had used the guise of Fuuma to gain the upper hand.

Then she sees the silhouette of the Rainbow Bridge.

Two figures stare at one another across the distance, one clearly Seishrio while the other seems to be Kamui and yet something seems out of place.

The younger boy seems different somehow and it takes her a moment to realise that he had allowed his hair to grow out.

They are talking and yet she can hear nothing, something that is not at all normal.

"Why can we not hear them?"

"Because their words and their actions have not yet been completely set…

"Because this day had not yet reached a certainty."

"How is that possible? I believed that the future was open always to you."

"It seems that is no longer the case."

The image has changed and she suppressed the urge to question her husband further and returns to watching this future play out.

Kamui and Seishrio have began to fight and already it is clear who the winner shall be…already the ancient strength of the sakura is proving little match for Divine power.

The fight stops abruptly and for a moment she can see no reason for this.

Once the dust settles, however, the reason for this lull becomes evident, for there in the centre of the Bridge is her brother.

A bandage covers his eyes and she can not but wonder how he has come to this place…

He is saying something and again she can not hear what, something that is beginning to infuriate her just slightly.

All three men glance upwards and then the vision blanks completely.

"What happens next?"

"I am afraid that even that is uncertain now."

They stand in that blank void together, hand in hand, contemplating what this uncertainty shall mean for their continued existence…

What it means for the continuation of all life on earth.

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T: No I will not reveal what is going to happen on Rainbow Bridge…yes I am mean! R+R ta!


	11. The Inevitability of Fate

11. The inevitability of fate.

T: Another cliff hanger warning this one worse than the last so prepare the sharp throwing items! It's not mine and despite my evilness I am not a member of Clamp.

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'How is Sumeragi-san?'

"He has yet to recover his sight."

'Forgive me, Kamui, for I should have seen this occurrence in my dreams.'

"You have been ill; Hinoto-san and Daisuke's death has hit you hard."

'Lord Saki died without necessity,'

"He died for my sake."

'You can not blame yourself for the actions of the other Kamui.'

"Yet I must, he is my Twin Star after all."

Silence for a moment before Hinoto says,

'I have just dreamed of where the next Kekkai shall fall.'

"Where?"

'The Rainbow Bridge.'

"I shall go."

'Be careful, Kamui, for the other seals can not protect you this time.'

"I am more than capable of looking after myself."

She smiles and there is an edge to it that tingles some faint distrust in the back of his mind.

Yet for the moment he cannot think on such things…

For the moment he has a Kekkai to protect…

The air is chilled, enough so that his breath is turning to steam almost the very moment it leaves his mouth.

Another small cloud of breath is visible on the opposite edge of the bridge to him and brushing his hair free of his eyes he acknowledges the other's presence.

"It is good to see you are well, Seishiro-san."

"And you, Kamui-kun. I see you have allowed you hair to grow a little since I saw you last."

"I fancied a change."

Silence and Seishrio takes the opportunity to light a cigarette before he says,

"It seems the other Kamui has no more wish to keep me around. Something I find odd when you consider the lengths he went to procure my services again."

"Perhaps he believes you shall be victorious."

"No. I rather believe that it is rather that he had seen my Wish to stop fighting and has decided that death will be the best way for me to fulfil that wish."

He drops his cigarette then and flings a spell towards his opponent.

Kamui counters the spell with ease and thus the battle begins truly.

Seishiro soon begins to lose, his power little match for that of a Kamui.

"Stop this."

They freeze mid motion and as the dust settles they are met with the figure of Subaru Sumeragi.

His eyes are bound still with medical gauze and it is Seishiro, who voices the obvious question,

"How did you know we were here, Subaru? Indeed how did you find your way to this place?"

"I saw the bridge in my dreams this morning, Seishiro, saw the fight and knew that I had to stop it.

"Thus I hailed a taxi and asked the driver to bring me to this place."

"Subaru…" Seishiro takes a step towards the Onmyouji, his hands opened out before him in a sign of surrender before a hard back of laughter directs both his attention and the attention of the others up to the very top of the bridge.

The Kamui if the Dragons of Earth is stood there, a cold smile clear on his lips even from such a distance.

"How kind you must be to want to save this man even though he is now your enemy. It is almost a shame that that Wish is not as strong as the Sakurazukamori's wish to die…almost a shame that it is his desire that I shall grant this day." He remarks before he sends a wave of energy towards the supporting strut of the bridge.

Kamui lunges for Subaru as the bridge collapses and he manages to grab the older man before his hands connect with the edge of the road.

It takes great strength to pull both his own body weight and Subaru's up and yet with the adrenaline rushing through his veins he manages this feat after but a few seconds.

"We are safe." He says once he has his breath back.

"What about Seishiro, Kamui?"

He glances across the divide of the water to the tarmac of the road at the other side and searches for a silhouette…for anything…that might indicate that Seishiro has also survived.

He finds nothing.

……………………………………………………………………………

"It is odd to be divided within yourself, to have two consciousnesses warring always over the simplest of decisions…

"The other Kamui believes that the sprit inside myself will win out, wishes desperately for that other consciousness to be free so that he might love it…so that it might love him.

"Love is a strong force and perhaps that Kamui's love will free the consciousness known once as Fuuma Monu…shall destroy me. Yet such a contingency is unlikely.

"What is more worrying is that that trap shall be proven to have achieved nothing…that the one who seems to be dead shall prove to be very much alive.

"I shall be very angry if that proves the case, especially when it seems that I am on the verge of granting at last the Wish of this earth." The Dark Kamui smiles and running a hand through his companion's hair he enquires, "What do you think Nataku?"

The bioroid considers the situation and then enquires,

"You grant wishes, do you not, father?"

"Yes?"

"You say that the one known once as Fuuma Monu is separate from you?"

"Yes?"

"Does that consciousness not have a Wish?"

"Of course he has a Wish…all living things have a Wish."

"What is that Wish?"

"To be as he once was…to be free of the guilt of his sister's death and free to love the other Kamui."

"Will you grant him that Wish?"

"Why would I do such a thing, indeed what does the Wish of that consciousness have to do with my dilemma?"

"You talk of being divided, something that would cease if you granted that other's Wish."

"Yet if Fuuma were freed I would exist no longer."

"You are not Fuuma, if that were the case then you would wish as he…you would not Wish to grant the earth's desire…"

"My consciousness is separate from his, this is true, yet we share the same body."

"Create a new form for yourself using your gift and my essence."

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because I Wish always to be at your side, father."

The Dark Kamui regards the bioroid quietly for a few moments, assessing the truth and the strength of its Wish and then he says,

"Then I shall grant you that Wish." Before he plunges his hand into the other's heart.

……………………………………………………………………………

Always before Subaru had reacted to the situation in a mature manner, had accepted things as they were and learned to cope.

This time, however…

He was refusing to believe Seishiro was dead despite the overwhelming evidence to back up this conclusion.

Kamui had told him that was being immature and they had gotten into a fight.

It had failed to come to blows only because Subaru had stormed into his room and locked the door behind him.

An hour later and he was still there, despite Kamui's pleas for him to come out again so that they might talk this through rationally.

There was a knock on the door and answering it Kamui was greeted with Hokuto, who was carrying an unconscious Fuuma in her arms.

"Why have you brought _him_ here?"

"Because he is no longer the Dark Kamui."

Recalling Subaru's recount of the battle at the Sunshine 60 aquarium Kamui enquires,

"Are you sure it is not a trick."

"Very sure and I'll explain the second you let me in."

He steps to one side and she crosses to set Fuuma on the couch before she says,

"I am sure because it was the Dark Kamui who gave Fuuma into my care."

"Would you care to explain that?" He enquires as eh comes to sit at her side.

"They have been two separate Consciousnesses for a while now…indeed; perhaps they have always been as such…

"Recently Fuuma's Wish has become very certain and as a 'granter of Wishes' the Dark Kamui had no real choice but to grant this one also.

"Yet how to grant Fuuma's Wish without also killing himself?

"He had power enough to change a body to fit whatever form he desired and yet who would willingly give themselves over for such a cause?

"The answer came in the form of the Bioroid Nataku, who offered himself as sacrifice.

"Thus has the Dark Kamui become his own being and Fuuma had been returned to himself."

He had wished so desperately for this day and now that it was here…now that he was faced with the possibility of complete happiness…

"It is not fair."

He remarks as he stretches a hand to play with Fuuma's hair.

"What isn't?"

"The fact that I can be bestowed such luck and such contentedness just when Subaru's has been stolen away."

Her face has paled and grasping hard to his shoulder she enquires,

"Did you go to the Kekkai on the Rainbow Bridge? What has happened Kamui? Why has Subaru lost his happiness?"

"Do you not know? Can you not see the future?"

"No. It has been closed away from my husbands eyes, has been stolen away along with our one hope of seeing out this war…our one hope of staying useful to the Dark Kamui and thus escaping his wrath.

"Yet I do not care if I die, Kamui, all I care is that my brother and my son stay happy and alive.

"If something has upset Subaru I must know what it is…must know if again the Rainbow Bridge has stolen away his soul."

The way she phrases that statement, as though all this happened before, scares him and yet still he replies,

"The Dark Kamui collapsed the Bridge and I only just managed to save Subaru and myself.

"Seishrio was not so lucky…"

"Where is Subaru?"

"In his room."

"Are you sure?"

He is about to tell her that of course he is sure, that the door to Subaru's room has not opened since he went in there earlier, when he recalls that the window in Subaru's room opens out onto a small balcony.

Between the two of them the door is soon shouldered opened and they are met with an empty room.

There is a note on the bed scrawled enough so that it is almost illegible and yet the words,

'He is alive.'

Are clear still on the page.

"How can he be so stupid?"

"He loves him, Kamui and because of that this is not stupidity to him.

"Because of that he will not stop until he finds Seishrio again or until he can make Seishrio a part of himself."

"How do you know that so certainly, Hokuto-chan? How did you know Subaru would be gone and why did you say that about the Rainbow Bridge?"

She sighed and replied,

"Because my husband can see all the futures of this world and all the pasts.

"Once I asked him if my brother had been right in believing that Obaachan had denied him his fate all those years ago and he told me a tale of a meeting beneath a sakura tree and a bet.

"He told me of the year that this bet was carried out, of the illusionary figure of the man who had instigated the bet and the unconditional love of his innocent victim.

"He told me of the horrific conclusion to the year, told me of my own death and of the man that the innocent victim would become.

"Then he told me of this the Year of Destiny, of the part that that victim…my brother…would play within it.

"He told me of a final clash between the one who had caused him so much pain…the one he loved. Seishrio.

"Upon Rainbow Bridge they fought and eventually Seishrio used my brother to fulfil his Wish…used my brother as his suicide weapon.

"As he died he uttered one last thing…uttered the first and last truth that he had ever told my brother.

"That truth broke Subaru and after that day he changed…became an empty shell.

"Eventually he could take no more and he killed himself beneath the very sakura where the whole thing had began.

"That is how I know all these things, Kamui and I refuse to watch again as my brother destroys himself.

"Refuse to stand motionless as he fades into nothingness."

"Then let us find him, Hokuto-san, before it becomes too late."

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T: Is Sei-chan alive? Nope I'm not going to tell you! And yes Kamui is going to leave Fuuma in a strange apartment on his own…naughty Kamui! R+R as I need my kick!


	12. Memory

12. Memory

T: Comixoriole consider that last chapter as revenge for all the times you've left me hanging with Another Shot! Okay with that out of the way I'm going straight into disclaimer…not mine, warnings the same!

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Fuuma Monou's last true memory had been sitting at his sister's bedside, watching her pale form and hoping against the odds that she would again find her sanity.

After that his memory was filled with the dreams he had had while the Dark Kamui had controlled his body.

Dreams that had not featured Subaru Sumeragi or the war in general and thus when he awakes alone in Subaru's apartment his is set instantly on edge.

He registers a photo of Kamui and Kotori and standing he grasps it into his hands.

Blood…

There is blood everywhere…

Kamui is screaming his name and there is the weight of a sword in his hands.

He drops the frame as though he has been burned.

What are these memories?

Another photo sits on the side and though he recognises Kamui it is just barely.

For the boy is smiling in a way Fuuma can not recall in his memory and yet had Kamui not been happy with him? Had they not been friends?

Even though he had seen Kamui every day since…something…had occurred to his sister, he could not recall the figure stood next to his friend in the picture.

An older man with an enigmatic smile and entrancing green eyes.

Another flash of blood.

Kamui is stood a little from two men crouched on the floor.

One is all but coated in blood while the other…

There is such a cold look in his eyes that it chills him even now.

What are these memories?

Why can he not recall what has happened to his sister or how Kamui knows the other in the picture?

He turns on the television in hopes of distracting himself and is met with a news report.

A reporter is stood at the Rainbow Bridge and yet there is a void where the bridge had once stood.

How had he not known that this was happening?

How had this tragedy not come up in conversation with Kamui?

Something is very wrong…

The door clicks open and turning he is presented with Kamui and yet it is not the Kamui he recalls in his memory.

He has changed so much and yet Fuuma had seen him only yesterday…

"Kamui, what is going on? Why can I not recall where Kotori is, why have I no recollection of the collapse of the Rainbow Bridge and why have you changed so very much since yesterday?

He sighs and comes to sit on the floor across from Fuuma, a weariness in his eyes that only adds to the feeling of wrongness.

"Everything you recall after the hospital did not occur, Fuuma…is but the recollection of dreams…"

"I do not understand, Kamui."

"Another being took control of your body for a while, Fuuma. Pushed you deep inside of yourself."

It sounds ridiculous and yet he knows it is truth, both for the fear in Kamui's eyes and the recollection of blood in the deepest recesses of his mind.

"Where is my sister, Kamui and what has happened since that day in hospital?"

"Kotori is dead." He stares harshly at the ground before continuing, the pause giving Fuuma time to comprehend what he was saying.

He continues quietly

"As to what has occurred since that day…

"War has began between two factions, a divine war that can end with only one outcome , in which either I or my Twin Star dies."

He is no longer holding eye contact and Fuuma makes a rational leap,

"_I_ was your Twin Star, was I not?"

"At the beginning I believe that was the case. Something happened though, and the part of you that was my Twin Star separated away from the rest of you.

"I am sorry that I can no explain any better than that, though I have power I do not have the knowledge to back that power up.

"Usually Subaru helps me in these matters but things being as they are…"

Clearly Kamui sees his confusion for he gains his feet and grasping to the photo containing the unknown man he says,

"This is Subaru Sumeragi, he is my roommate, my friend and my surrogate brother.

"He has stood by me since we met…" He paused and there was a sag to his shoulders that Fuuma recalled from their childhood.

He raises onto his feet and goes to place a hand on Kamui's shoulder before the boy shies away from him.

"I'm sorry." The boy states as he turns to face him again.

"Don't be, Kamui." Without thought he reaches for the others face and this time Kamui does not shy away…

This time he seems to believe that Fuuma is again himself.

…………………………………………………………………………………

They had not even reached the park before Kamui had realised that Fuuma was alone now in the apartment, a place that would be unfamiliar to the boy whether he recalled his actions or no

He'd had no wish for Fuuma to wake alone in that unfamiliar environment and though he wished desperately to find and help Subaru, his love for Fuuma had won over in the end.

Thus she was alone when she came into the shadow of the sakura and she allowed herself a moment of contemplation.

In that other future everything had moved in circles…

Subaru and Seishiro had met beneath the sakura, had made a bet which had ended beneath the very same tree.

Seishiro had destroyed the Hokuto of that world and in turn Subaru had destroyed him.

Love had killed the man known as Seishiro Sakurazuka and it had destroyed also the boy known as Subaru Sumeragi.

In this world everything seemed to have happened by 'coincidence', seemed to be running to no fixed pattern and yet…

Her brother had met Seishiro under the tree and a 'game' had been created and then later tossed to one side.

Seishiro had supposedly died in the same place as before and again Subaru was refusing to accept that death…

Again her brother was walking a clear path to destruction.

Yet in this world she was alive and no matter what she had to do, what she had to give, she would not watch her brother kill himself.

"Sakura-san, might I have a word?" She enquires.

A tingle of an illusionary barrier settles about her and then she is again face to face with the gentleman she had seen the night she had introduced her son to her brother.

_'My name is Yuki, Kizuki-san.'_

"And mine is Hokuto."

He smiles before he enquires,

_'You are here about Seishrio-sama I suppose.'_

"I wished to know if he was still alive and I wanted to know if you could find Subaru for me."

_'I can not give a hopeful answer to either, I fear. I have not felt my essence transferred to a new master and yet that means only that Seishrio-sama could have died before the transference spell was invoked or he died at the hand of someone other than your brother._

_'As to that individual…I can feel the pulse of the marks Seishiro placed upon him and yet I can not say for sure where those marks are located._

_'However, I can install a little hope in your heart by saying that something about this is not right._

_'If Seishiro-sama were dead…even if he had been killed by a hand other than Subaru's…I would have felt something to tell me that was the case and I would not be able to claim still this physical form.'_

"Yet if he were alive would you not be able to find him?"

_'If he were deliberately hiding himself, then, no.'_

"Is there any way of knowing for sure?" That is the deep vibrancy of her brother's voice, a thing she had fear never to hear again and that on hearing it now dismisses all her fears as little more than paranoia.

For he does not sound lost or depressed…

He sounds confident…

Strong.

"Subaru, where have you been?"

"I went to his apartment, but the door was locked and his next door neighbour said that he had not been home for a few days.

"So I thought that he might be here at the tree so I came looking for him and found you instead."

"How did you get inside the tree's illusionary protection?"

_'Seishiro-sama has given Subaru a little of my power, enough so that he can travel through my Maraboshi without problem.'_

"Would you answer my question now?" Subaru enquired.

_'Of course.__ Yes, I believe there is a way in which we might learn if Seishiro-sama lives or no.'_

"What do we do?"

_'We wait. You see when Seishiro-sama stopped feeding me after you left him for the first time I realised that I needed some assurance that I would not again lose my sustenance._

_'That not matter Seishrio-sama's mood I would have food enough to keep my alive until such a time that he decided to come to feed me again._

_'Thus I bespelled him and if he lives still that spell will still be active.'_

"I will be able to trace his location once the spell activates." Subaru states before he settles onto the floor and evens out his breathing until he is clearly meditating.

She watches him a while and then she settles down at his side, her gloved fingers looping into his own bare ones.

_'He is alive.'_ The tree remarks eventually and she feels her brother tense before he says,

"I know where he is."

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T: You see? I would never be as mean as to kill Sei-chan right when everything is on a positive course! Snerk wait until you see what he's been doing with himself while you all believed he was dead!


	13. Changes

13. Changes.

T: You're really going to hate Sei-chan after this but hey I'm sure you disliked him before hand any way! Yep not mine and yep warnings the same!

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He had felt the weight of the bridge shift beneath him and for the briefest of moments he had considered letting himself fall with it.

Yet there was Subaru and the promise he had made to the younger man to consider.

'On the last day I shall be at your side.'

He had want to fulfil that promise, had want to spend what might be his last moments wrapped in Subaru's embrace.

Thus he had leapt free of the wreckage and had watches at a safe distance to assure himself that neither Subaru nor Kamui had been harmed.

He'd gone for coffee and decided during his third cup to simply drink, relax and allow the Dark Kamui to believe that he had perished on the bridge.

Decided to keep a low profile for the evening.

Thus he had taken the train to the house he had bought in Kyoto all of a year ago and had spent his afternoon talking to his boss about transferring himself out to this area.

The tree's spell had struck just as dusk had set in and it had unsettled him just slightly.

Not simply because of the drain it had given his energy, but also because he had forgotten that 'Yuki' had placed the spell upon him.

He could not simply allow 'Yuki' to take his essence whenever the other desired, especially if it was going to bring him this much fatigue and yet returning to Tokyo simply to feed the tree each day would be both risky and expensive.

He had just begun to think of a solution to this problem when there was a frantic knock on the door.

He is unsurprised to find Subaru on his door step…he is, however, surprised by the blow Subaru deals him.

"That was for running away." He remarks.

"Did you see this house in your dreams also?"

"No…this time I simply followed the pulse of the magic that I have tied to you."

"Why are you here, Subaru?"

"I love you."

He steps finally across the threshold and raises his fingers up to the bandages about his eyes.

"Are you sure that you should take them off so soon, Subaru?"

"If I am blind, then I am blind, Seishrio, a few more weeks will not change that."

The bandages snake to the floor and Subaru blinks against the change in light…

Reacts as any seeing man would react.

He smiles then and stepping towards Seishiro catches him into a kiss.

………………………………………………………………………………

He had talked to Noruko and once the man was satisfied that Fuuma posed no risk to the security of the campus Kamui had taken his friend to see his sister's grave.

It was the tears, more that anything else, that told him this was real.

In his dreams Fuuma had never cried…true he had been far removed from the emotionless character of the Dark Kamui…but he had never once cried.

Perhaps that had been because part of Kamui thought of Fuuma still as an older brother figure, who was strong enough to support through crisis and who never showed any sort of weakness.

Yet why did it matter?

Why was he analysing logics and creating theories when his friend, no, when the one he loved, was crying?

He placed a hand to Fuuma's shoulder and says,

"We need to be strong for her sake, Fuuma."

"That is true and we also need to be strong for one another's sakes also."

"I can not ask you to fight this war also, Fuuma." Kamui states as he catches his friends hidden meaning.

"Would you ask me to sit idle to one side while you risk yourself for the good of this world? Would you ask me to sit to one side while there is a possibility that you will die?"

"Now that you are yourself again you bare no magic and thus you are vulnerable.

"I will not watch someone else I care for hurt for my sake, Fuuma."

His friend stands then and for a while they simply stay as such.

Again it is Fuuma who closes the gap, his hands rising to hold Kamui's face.

"I can see all those he harmed in my minds eye, Kamui. Can see the pain and heart ache he caused to countless innocents.

"We were one once and thus his magic was my magic. Perhaps I am no longer ordinary…perhaps I retain still a little of his gift.

"If that were so, if I could use his power to redeem a little of the grief he had bestowed this world…"

"Fuuma, I understand your wish to right his wrong and yet I can not risk your life on a supposition."

"Attack me then, just enough so that we can see if I can defend myself still."

He knows well that his friend will not lease this belief until he proves or disproves the theory and thus Kamui steps free of his friends embrace and reluctantly throws a small spell in his direction.

Fuuma raises his hands and the spell fades as though it has never existed.

"I _can_ defend myself, Kamui and thus I ask that you allow me to fight this war at your side. Ask that you let me protect you."

"Only if you shall allow me to protect you also."

Kamui replies before he steps again into his friends embrace.

………………………………………………………………………………..

We stayed away from Tokyo for a week, both to make certain that the Dark Kamui believed Seishiro was dead and simply to re-accustom ourselves to one another.

It seems my vision will never return to its previous precision and thus I have reluctantly been fitted for a pair of glasses.

Seishrio told me that they are 'cute' and I informed his that as my boyfriend he has to say that sort of a thing.

Upon returning to the apartment I was greeted with the sight of the two Kamui's linked in a rather passionate kiss.

"Oh my!" That is Seishiro, a wicked smile clear in his tone.

The pair separate and Kamui had the decency to blush before he says,

"You could have called ahead…or knocked."

"Kamui, you are forgetting that this is my apartment and anyway I was not expecting guests."

"I would have asked you, but Hokuto-san would not give me your number…she said it was rude to interrupt someone when they were on their honeymoon.

Did you get married without telling me, Subaru?"

"Did you join up with the enemy without telling me?" I counter.

Fuuma looked up then.

"You will forgive me interrupting, especially when I do not really understand if this is a fight or not…but I am no longer the enemy, Sumeragi-san."

After Sunshine 60 I can not so readily trust such a statement and yet regarding him with my magical eyes I can see the change in his magical essence…

Can see the truth of his words…

"You are no longer a Kamui, but how?"

"Within the Dark Kamui existed two separate selves, yet how that came to be is still a mystery to me." Kamui explains.

"Perhaps because of Fuuma's love for you…something that would have existed even before the dark presence claimed him completely."

"A very intriguing theory, Subaru and something I would expect more from your sister than you." Seishrio says.

"I suppose that you have a better idea?" I enquire.

"Let us no fight over this, you two, all that matters is that Fuuma is Fuuma again." Kamui responds.

"True enough." I reply before I come to take a seat opposite the pair.

Seishiro joins me despite the fact that I am on a one person chair and I am forced to re-arrange myself so that I am sat on his lap.

"Is this an end to the war?" Seishiro enquires after a moment.

"Unfortunately not. It seems the Dark Kamui has found an individual willing to give their body so over so that he might use it."

"That would be Nataku…that boy loved the Dark Kamui very much and would have given anything to see his 'father' happy." Seishiro states.

"Would this other's form have given the Dark Kamui any advantage?" I enquire.

He ponders the answer a great while and then says,

"Perhaps and yet any advantage will have been lost again through the division of the magic between Fuuma and the Dark Kamui."

"Kazuki."

"I am sorry, Monou-kun?" I enquire.

"The 'Dark Kamui' is pretentious and as the creature you call 'Nataku' was once Kazuki I suggest we call the Dark Kamui that from now on."

There are no obvious objections to this decision and thus the 'Dark Kamui' becomes now 'Kazuki' to us.

"We need to test how strong Kazuki is, need to see what sort of a foe we Kamui is now facing."

"It is an idea, Seishiro-san," Kamui says, "But how do you propose we 'test' Kazuki without harming anyone else?"

He smirks and then begins to detail his plan.

It was simple enough and yet it would require a great magical drain on Seishiro's part and would alert Kazuki to the fact that Seishiro lived still.

"We have to do this, Subaru, otherwise you will be fighting blind and this world will be destroyed.

"I, for one, do not wish to see that happen, not when things are at last settling down."

"I do not wish to lose you again, Seishiro."

He takes my hand in his and smiling says,

"You will not, Subaru. Not when I have a promise still to keep to you."

He was telling me with those words that he had not plans in dying alone…

That he wished his last moments to be spent with me.

Something I wished also and yet…

Such wishes are dangerous things…

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T: You see? He was off enjoying coffee while everyone else angst and thought he was dead…naughty Sei-chan! Only two more chapters to go so R+R to let me know you love me!


	14. Ilusion

14. Illusion.

T: In case anyone other than Silver Salamander is curious, yep Sei-chan is still Sakurazukamori which means there are still a few more issues to be worked out between the happy couple before they reach perfection! Oh and this should help clear the confusion you were having Comixoriole about why he was so logical in the last chapter…I'll also be addressing said logic in the next chapter…hope that helps!

To ease confusion** I'll be referring to the Dark Kamui as Kazuki throughout**…though I'm sure doing as such will actually confuse a few people! Nope not mine and Yep warnings the same. Oh and the POV later on in this chapter is again Kibou.

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He had recognised the bird as an illusion of the Sakurazukamori the moment it had landed at his feet and he's disposed of it without a second thought.

How very foolish.

Not only had that little illusion informed Kazuki that the Sakurazukamori was alive, but it had also informed him that his enemy was unsure of his capabilities now that he had lost the 'Fuuma' edge of his psyche.

Clearly he had again the advantage in this war.

He steps forwards and the world faded into sakura covered darkness.

So the bird had been but the beginning…

"This is futile, Sakurazukamori. I know what you are doing and I shall not participate in your little game."

"What a pity. I had rather hoped I would at least have seen you break the Maraboshi before you confronted me." The Sakurazukamori sighs and steps into Kazuki's line of sight.

Something is…odd…about the other, yet this is something that Kazuki dismisses as another layer to the illusion.

"You look well."

The other smiles lazily and lighting a cigarette remarks,

"For a dead man, you mean?"

"You had come to the end of your usefulness, Sakurazukamori. For you had begun to allow your heart to sway your choices."

"Something you too are guilty of…or perhaps Monou-kun forced you to free him."

"He was weighing me down with the force of his hearts desire and his hidden Wish.

"Had he remained within me and Kamui discovered that Wish then my victory would have been lost.

"Now I am strong enough to do as is my fate and kill the Kamui of the Dragons of Heaven."

"If that is so why do you reside still within this illusion? Why do I live still?"

Kazuki considers this and then smiling sets a hand to the Sakurazukamori's face.

"Because this is a test and you are not who you claim to be."

The Sakurazukamori's features change, then he is suddenly looking into the eyes of one Sumeragi Subaru.

"It seems you have recovered well from your injuries. A shame you did not learn the lesson then."

Power rises to his fingers…it is less than it had been while Fuuma was part of him still and yet it is stronger still than that which this other holds.

The illusion wavers and another appears, Kazuki now facing both the Sakurazukamori's prey and the Sakurazukamori himself.

Alone neither is as a threat to him and yet now they are together…

A harmony existed within their gifts that he had never seen before; an almost symbolic link between them that mean together they were stronger.

Were a very real threat.

"Don't you think this is a little in excess for a 'test' of my skills?" He enquires.

The Sakurazukamori gestures and the illusion fades about them.

He is stood now atop Tokyo Tower and about him the city is in flames.

"This is more than a test." The Sakurazukamori remarks.

"This is the Final Battle and yet if that is the case where is Kamui?"

"Collecting the Shinken."

So these two were the distraction were they?

Something about the situation seemed wrong still and he could not but help wonder if this was also an illusion.

After all he should have known that the Final Day was this close…

Should have faced Kamui with the other Shinken in his hands.

As it was now his Shinken lay beneath the Government building under the watchful eyes of Kanoe.

"This is another test, isn't it?"

The Sakurazukamori smiles and again the world about them shifts.

This time he is faced with the dark of a dreamscape.

"No more games, Monou-kun." The Sakurazukamori states as he steps in front of his lover.

"Is my final test to best you, Sakurazukamori?"

"No. After that little exercise I believe I would be a rather disappointing opponent."

"Therefore _I _shall be your foe today, Kazuki-san."

Kakyo is sat almost in the perfect centre of the darkness, the hesitant demeanour Kizuki links with the man always, faded away into rage.

"You believe yourself a worthy opponent do you, Kazuki-san? Even when time and time before I have broken through the barriers within both your dreams and your mind?"

"Before I had the welfare of my wife and child to consider…now I know the only hope of their survival is to face you and thus I do as such.

"Thus I walk into the mouth of death himself without a backward glance."

He stands then and the illusion of fatigue and of depression fades from him so that he looks now awake and content.

Kazuki plunges for the other only to be met with a wall of infinite blackness.

"You forget quickly that we are within a dreamscape, Kazuki-san and as such the game follows my terms."

He feels anger rising within him and resists the urge to allow that emotion to swamp him.

Instead he falls to a crouch and placing his hands flat against the 'floor' of the dreamscape, allows a calm to take him.

Once he is tranquil again he focuses his energy through his fingers.

The dreamscape shakes and the wall before him crumbles to reveal the open waters of an ocean.

He steps onto the water with ease and once he has trained his mind to think of this surface as nothing more than a 'floor' he walks across its surface without difficulty.

Kakyo is stood upon a small pinnacle of rock at the centre of the expanse, a smile clear upon his lips.

"You are not what you used to be and yet still none but Kamui can harm you."

"Something I would have thought was clear to you. After all the Final Battle can be fought only between the two Kamui's.

"No other can face either myself or my Twin Star and win. Thus was this test of my strength stupidity incarnate."

"You forget that I wish to see this wars end at my wife's side. If you kill me know you will have denied me a fulfilment to that wish."

"The time for me to be a fulfiller of the wishes of man is at an end, Kakyo, for the Wish of this world will no longer be denied.

"A wish you stand in the way of granting."

He gestures then and the Dreamseer slumps to his knees.

"You shall have to use more magic that that, Kazuki-san, if you wish to breach this dream."

Kazuki smiles at that statement, at the foolish bravado encased within it, before he sends the full strength of his power towards the other.

………………………………………………………………………………….

I am playing happily on the swings when a sharp pain wells in my mind.

Ayaka-sensei is at my side almost the moment I stumble, her hands gripping hard to my skin.

"Kibou-chan, what is the matter?"

"Something is wrong with Papa," I remark as I break free of her grip.

I make it just outside the Kindergarten building before hands are again upon my shoulders.

Glancing upwards I am met with the deep green of my uncle's eyes, magnified now beneath the lenses of his glasses.

"What has happened to papa?" I enquire my voice steady despite the traitorous tears that have begun leaking from my eyes.

"He was attacked, yet you have no need to be alarmed, his injuries are much less than you begin to believe them."

"How can you say that, how can you expect me to believe you when I feel his pain? He is dying!"

"Kibou, fix your eyes upon mine." Uncle Subaru states as he falls to his knees.

Blinking away the tears I set my eyes upon his…feel a calm cease at me.

"Listen closely to me, child. The pain you feel is illusionary, just as most of the injuries upon your father are illusionary also.

"We wish his attacker to believe that he is stronger than he truly is, for in that confidence will be found his downfall."

"Why did you have to make papa a part of this?"

"Because the Final Day is drawing close and your father's usefulness begins to fade due to that fact.

"If his attacker believes him incapacitated enough to no longer prove a threat then he will hopefully lease the thought of killing your father."

"Will you bring him to me, Uncle Subaru?"

"Of course." He offers me his hand but before I can take the offer Ayaka-sensei is between us.

"Who are you?"

"Mira Ayaka, it is a pleasure to at last meet you. I am Subaru Sumeragi, Kibou's uncle."

She is sceptical until he removes his glasses, at which point a manic gleam lit her eyes and she pulled uncle Subaru into a tight hug.

"Hokuto-san has been telling me all about you! Saying how sweat and utterly, utterly kind you are!

"How would you feel about taking me out for dinner sometime?"

Uncle Subaru takes Ayaka-sensei's madness in his stride and balancing his glasses back onto his face he remarks,

"I'm afraid I'm spoken for." Before he grabs my hand and walks calmly towards the Campus exit.

We arrive eventually in a little hospital in Tatsumi and once uncle Subaru gives his name we are escorted to room number 99.

Mama is sat at papa's bedside her delicate hands laced hard with his.

He us awake and for the first time in five years I can look into his waking eyes…

Can see my father's true face.

"You are smaller than you seem in the Dreamscape." He remarks once mama has pulled me into her lap.

"It is good to see you too, papa."

He chuckles at that and places a hand to cup my face a moment before his expression becomes serious again.

"Kazuki-san was serious about ending my life today, Subaru-kun, which means only one thing."

"The Final Day is closer than we thought."

"Indeed. I would say you have a day…maybe two…and then Tokyo Tower shall be the last Kekkai standing."

"Then let us make what is left of today special, shall we?" Mama enquires.

"What are you plotting Hokuto-chan?"

"Don't worry, Subaru, just get Kamui-kun and Sei-chan out to Sei-chan's Kyoto abode and I will do the rest!" she says winking.

Looking at the smile on mama's face I find myself revising my opinion of Ayaka-sensei's sanity…mama is most defiantly much, much worse!

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T: Final Day party in the next chapter and then onto the battle true! Yep it's the last chapter next time so R+R before you lose the opportunity!


	15. Final Promises

15: Final Promises.

T: It's the last chapter…sob…never mind! Once I've got the last chapter of my Gravitation fic out of the way I'll be working on the next big (I hope) serious fic and until then you can go and have a look at my poor attempt at a humour fic…anyway shameless plugging out of the way…not mine and warnings fairly well the same, a little upping of the violence quota but as this is the Final Day battle I hope you expected such a thing!

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I do not think I wish to know what my sister put in that punch, especially when it managed to get even Seishiro drunk.

Stumbling into the kitchen I am greeted by the excessively cheery figure of my sister baring two cups of thick black coffee.

"There you are! I was just about to attempt to rouse both Sei-chan and yourself with the traditional hang over cure."

"Thank you, Hokuto-chan." I remark as I snatch the cup from her and drink the liquid inside.

"Kamui wants a word with you once you've got yourself together."

"Okay…Hokuto-chan, thank you for staying with me even when I was abrasive and uncaring."

She smiles and hugging me hard remarks,

"That's what sisters are for." Before she disappears down the hallway in search of Seishiro.

I take a shower and once I am dressed I take a moment to regard the blurred outline of my face in the mirror.

The last that I had taken the time to truly look at my appearance had been five years ago on what had proved to be my last visit to Babylon with Hokuto at my side.

So much had changed to the man in the reflection since then.

The distance in his eyes had burned away under the bright fire of love…

He had grown into something more than his Obbasan's tool…had become his own man….

He had suffered an almost debilitating injury, the scarring beneath his eyes as testament to that fact.

Sighing I brush a hand through my damp hair and placing my glasses back on go in search of Kamui.

I find him sat on the porch, his eyes fixated on the movement of the clouds.

The click of my lighter seems to stir him from whatever reverie he has fallen into and turning to face me he enquires,

"Why did you start smoking, Subaru?"

"I do not really know, to be honest…I believe that at first it was to blend into the atmosphere at Babylon, to become as a part of the illusion of that place.

"After Obaasan banned me from that place I smoked as a sign of rebellion and so that I could recall the comfort the illusion of Babylon had given me."

"What about now?"

"Until recently I have had no real reason to stop…nobody to care enough for that I would wish to live for as long as I can."

He turns to watch the clouds again and enquires,

"If I win, Subaru, will you give up?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"How are you today?" I enquire after a moment.

"I feel numb…I have been contemplating this day for so long now and yet always before I have been thinking about setting Fuuma free…about how I could even hope to draw sword against my best friend.

"Now I have simply to think of how to find the strength to kill…for even Kazuki does not deserve death."

"One life for the sake of thousands, Kamui…I know that murder is a terrible thing and yet for that logic is it not justified?"

"Perhaps…" A beet and turning again to me he enquires,

"Subaru, today I asked you to give up something that had become as part of yourself, because it was hurting not only yourself but those that cared for you also.

"Perhaps today is the day to make a similar request to Seishiro-san?"

He stands and placing a hand to my shoulder remarks,

"Thank you." Before he crosses back into the house.

The one request I would make of Seishiro was, unlike Kamui's request, a selfish thing.

I wished only for Seishiro to stop killing…for him to lease the last ties that made him a stranger to me…the ties that made him Sakurazukamori.

Yet if he were no longer that being then the tree's great power would wither, taking with it one of Tokyo's last remaining pillars of strength.

Would be as destroying this world.

Why should my selfish wants be considered more important than assuring Tokyo remained forever stable and balanced?

A pair of warm arms wrap about my middle and I press further into the comfort and shelter that Seishiro always provides me.

"You seem awfully reflective today, Subaru. What is on your mind?"

"Seishiro, when Rainbow Bridge fell you acted through the cold hearted logic of the Sakurazukamori and though I have forgiven you that action I do not believe I shall always be able to do as such…

Yet though I wish to, I can not ask you to lease the bond between yourself and the tree…"

"Because if I let the tree free then Tokyo would become even more unstable than it is now?"

"Yes."

"Subaru, I love you and I have no more want to hurt you simply because of darkness deep inside of me. Thus once the war is over I shall let the tree go."

"Yet the strength of the tree shall be needed even after the ending of the war."

"I know and I believe that there is a solution to this riddle." He smiles and I know that he is speaking the truth…know that he will indeed sever a bond he has had since childhood simply to appease my selfish want.

I feel my heart swell for love of him and bending a little backwards I pull him down into a fierce kiss.

………………………………………………………………………………….

Kazuki retains a great deal of Fuuma's appearance about him and yet he is no longer a precise replica of the boy Kamui loves.

For he is older and taller now in this new form…perhaps so as to appear menacing and perhaps just simply to break free of his previously childlike form.

"Kamui." His voice too has changed, its pitch deepening enough so it is almost as an earthquake.

"Kazuki.

Kamui is nervous and yet he betrays this fact only by gripping a fraction tighter to the Shinken.

"The Kekkai above the Government building has shattered and now this, the Kekkai within Tokyo tower, stands alone.

"Once it is destroyed …once you are destroyed…the world shall crumble into ruin."

"I give you one more chance to cease in this desire for destruction. One chance for the sake of Fuuma whom you returned to me and for the sake of Nataku who gave himself to you."

"I shall not relent…the earth shall have its Wish!"

The Shinken clash in a shower of sparks.

The final Kekkai…Kamui's Kekkai…forms about the pair as a bright golden sunrise.

As the light of hope.

From inside it seems as the light of a sunset.

As the fading of hope.

Again the Shinken clash.

Perhaps if this battle had come to pass as it should…if Kamui had been fighting against the boy he loved…there would have been words.

Senseless, angry words, that would have served only to deepen the emotions contained with this battle.

Now…in the reality formed by a Wish…it was silent.

Silent but for the sound of their breathing and the clash of the Shinken as they strike continually against one another.

The sound of footsteps as Kazuki settles to the floor again, his breath as heaving gasps for the exertion of this day.

Kamui too has stopped and yet his breath is still as a regular rhythm despite the exertion.

He regards his opponents fatigue cautiously, watching for a trick or an illusion.

When it becomes clear that the other is not tricking him he grips again his sword and leaps.

There is the sound of metal tearing muscle and bone and then slowly the Kekkai fades into nothing.

…………………………………………………………………………………

I itch for a cigarette.

I know that it is foolish, that as the head of the Sumeragi clan I should have control enough to get past this addiction…

Yet still I desire just one more inhalation of nicotine.

It does not help that Seishiro has happily lit his own cigarette and is making pains to blow as much of the smoke as he can in my direction.

"You know that you are being unfair, do you not, Seishiro?"

His smile says everything for him and I allow myself a little breath of frustration.

"I should have stayed with Kamui."

"You know as well as I do that Kamui-kun will want some time alone with Fuuma and anyway I wanted you to be here to witness this."

He leans forwards and setting a hand against the vast trunk of the tree he enquires,

"Yuki, might I have a moment?"

_'What can I do for you, Seishiro-sama?" _the spirit of the tree enquires as he appears almost directly behind his master.

I resist the urge to snicker at Seishiro's obvious fright, choosing instead to listen to whatever the man has to say to the tree.

"I wish to make you your own master."

_'Seishrio-sama, I am sure that I do not need to remind you that I am simply illusionary and thus unable to touch…let alone kill…anything."_

"I can use my power to ground you Yuki and then you can simply place a block on our bond."

_'Yet the moment the connection is severed you will not be able to regenerate your magic so quickly and with such a careless use of your gift you could well end out killing yourself.'_

"But it would not simply be my magic that I would use. I am sure that you know by now that I have tied Subaru to me and thus if he will permit me I will use a little of his gift as well."

He turns to me and despite my worries and my gut instinct to refuse him my aid I reply,

"Of course you may use my gift."

Seishiro is doing this for my sake, after all.

Once Seishiro has finished the spell he looks almost as tired as I feel and yet whatever he has done seems to have worked for the tree ruffles his former masters hair once before announcing,

"I live!" And vanishing into a swirl of sakura.

"I may learn to regret that choice." Seishrio grumbles to himself before he crosses the space between us to lean his head on my shoulder.

"Thank you for doing this for me." I remark before I lean down and capture him into a kiss.

He deepens it after a moment and as I clench harder to the warmth of his body I find myself smiling.

For at last I have found the clarity I have yearned always for.

At last I have found my destiny.

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T: Mwhahahaha! There is now a rampant tree out in the world with a bottomless stomach and a whole crime network to pop off as it desires…beware world, beware! Anyway that's it I'm afraid…please feel free to steal characters or write a sequel or something…just let me know before hand! R+R it'll make you feel good!


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